Adam Reyher

Twitter Surfing and Discovery

AdamR — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 09:56:53 +0000

Over the last 24 hours, I’ve done what I like to call Twitter Surfing. Following virtually every account link I see from person to person and seeing if they’re tweeting about something that interests me. If so, I follow, if not, it’s likely a dead end and I back up a bit.

I more than tripled the number of people I’m following, more than doubled my follower count, and through the process of following people, found a large collection of sites which I just didn’t have time to check out. So I bookmarked them.

This is the list for both my archival purposes as well as passing along things I find interesting to other people.

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Microsoft Office 2010: The Movie

AdamR — Wed, 13 May 2009 04:35:04 +0000

Over the past few months, I’ve been watching Microsoft unfold various advertising campaigns and community involvement projects. They’ve been starting to put the “fun” back into producing software. And this just tops it all off:

Office 2010: The Movie
http://www.office2010themovie.com/

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7 Reasons Why Free Web Hosting has Hurt the Internet

AdamR — Mon, 11 May 2009 23:29:35 +0000

Over the past decade, the internet has transitioned from being a place where only geeks hung out to a vast cloud full of information produce by anyone and everyone. We’ve gone from a select few making a website dedicated to their cat, to everyone and their cat having a website.

It started with Geocities, Tripod, and Homestead. These websites made it easy for amateurs to the internet to create a very basic website. In the light of modern times, these sites barely exist. But free web hosting continues in the form of free web hosting, free forums, etc. And it has hurt the internet.

1) Free web hosting caters to spam

Since most free web hosting providers are ad revenue based, they typically have very low standards for what types of websites are allowed to placed on their servers. And while some may have rules, they’re rarely monitored or enforced. This has opened the door spammers to create link farms in large numbers, sites that scrape copyrighted content, and just otherwise extremely low quality content.

2) Free web hosting is too easy to use

I’m all for websites providing increasingly easy ways of performing complex tasks — creating a forum on your website in 1999 wasn’t an easy task. But today, it’s a matter of simply signing up for a free forum service. And while I inherently have no issue with this, it allows users who have no clue what they’re doing to undertake very large tasks.

3) Free web hosting promotes technological ignorance

I’m a firm believer that everyone should have access to the internet. I’m a firm believer that everyone should be able to create their own content and place it on the internet. However, that being said, let’s face it: you have to be willing to learn how to do this properly. If you’re willing to pay for web hosting–which is an extremely small fee these days–you’re typically more willing to learn how to effectively manage, maintain, and promote your website. If you’re going to be running a forum, you’re more willing to customize it and encourage a thriving community. if you’re creating a blog, you’re interested in producing quality content. However, if the decision to make a website was made in the 30 seconds it took you to create that free website, chances are it’s not going to succeed.

4) Free web hosting limits the website owner

Okay, so let’s assume that you are a website owner who wishes to really learn about maintaining a website. There’s one problem, though: Free web hosts rarely provide the “customer” with the tools they need to learn. And when you try to ask the hosting provider to do something for you (which you otherwise could have done yourself), you’re met with horrible customer service and support.

5) Free web hosting discourages innovation

When signing up for a free website, blog, or forum, typically you’re presented with a small number of pre-fabricated templates that you can use–with no way to customize them. This, over time, produces a plethora of websites that look and function identically. The website owner is left with very little choice, and browsers of the internet are forced into seeing the same thing over and over again, with little way of distinguishing between content providers.

6) Free web hosting discourages quality content

Free website owners likely don’t truly care about the long-term destination of their website. If it fails, they really haven’t lost anything monetary, besides time. If it doesn’t get maintained, there’s no loss at all. There’s little incentive to produce quality content that people will want to subscribe to and read on a regular basis. You have nothing to lose, and nothing to gain. Unfortunately for the rest of the internet, they have to sift through loads of pointless content before finding what they were looking for or interested in.

7) Free web hosting is quite simply … cheap

And I mean that in more ways than simply monetary scale. If someone is going to become a website owner and maintainer; if they’re going to become a content producer; if they have something valuable to say and share with the rest of us, they should be willing to at least attempt to do a “good job” with it. If you’re not willing to give out something to secure your place on the internet, why would the rest of us want to hear what you have to say?

The free web hosting services cater to the “I want it now” ideology, with little regard for the planning and work required to produce quality content. The internet has been cut because of it. And unfortunately, I don’t think the blade is going away anytime soon.

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A Review of the HTC Titan Mobile Phone

AdamR — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 09:35:54 +0000

Boy, ten minutes certainly isn’t enough to review this phone! And you’ll notice that a lot of important information is left out because of time constraints. But this is my phone, the HTC Titan operating on the Verizon network.

It is by far the most enjoyable phone that I’ve had the opportunity to experience, and I highly recommend it for any potential phone shopper. It’s currently available on the Alltel, Sprint, and Verizon networks.

I’ll follow up the next few days with more in depth features of the phone—and other Windows Mobile applications.

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Why I Choose Windows Mobile vs the iPhone

AdamR — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 20:46:25 +0000

A friend of mine told me a few weeks ago that they were trying to get in contact with me but were unable to do so. I was completely taken back by this in a few ways. Firstly, there is no possible reason why you couldn’t get in contact with me considering that I carry every piece of mobile technology with me, and secondly, if they were a friend that knew me well enough, they would know all about this technology.

And it’s true–it is impossible not to contact me in some way, shape, or form. And it’s all thanks to one device: my mobile phone. My phone (an HTC Titan) is the communications center of my entire life. Everything routes through my phone before it gets to me. In reverse, everything which routes through my personal desktop computer also goes to my phone.

All of my email gets routed to my phone. When I’m away from my computer, Live Messenger Mobile takes over on my phone for instant messaging. Don’t have access to a phone to call or SMS me? That’s fine. Call me via Skype (adamreyher), and if my status on my desktop client is set to Away, you’ll automatically be redirected to my mobile phone. The best part? It’s at my expense.

If I need directions, Live Search Mobile is right there with me, complete with speech recognition, to help me find my way. If I don’t know where I am, built in phone-GPS allows me to pinpoint my exact location without having to browse through tons of maps. I can then receive turn-by-turn directions using this GPS. As much as I love Google, Maps Mobile has absolutely nothing on Live Search Mobile.

With Bluetooth functionality, I simply tap a button on my phone anywhere within 50ft of my desktop computer, and the phone automatically begins syncing contacts, calendars, and even my text messages. No cables required. With a Bluetooth enabled radio in your car, any media files stored on a memory card instantly become available for play. Add Voice Commander to the mix, and you’ve got 100% wireless control in your car.

The level of customization and functionality which Windows Mobile offers is absolutely outstanding. As a geek and hobbyist developer, I can create my own applications for Windows Mobile using the same exact programming techniques that I’m familiar with inside of Windows.

I’ll be the first person to admit that the iPhone looks extremely slick. The features are very nice for a phone. The implementation is beyond fantastic. But the level of customization and control over your phone is absolutely trumped by Windows Mobile devices.

I’m also not keen on the prospect of being locked into AT&T. While no phone company out there is exactly desirable, I personally have had worse experiences with AT&T than I bear to recall. I’m free to take my HTC Titan to any 3G CDMA network that I choose, and I’m currently with Verizon.

When all is said and done, I want choice combined with raw power and customizability. And that’s what Windows Mobile offers. And on that note, I’m desperately waiting to see what the full capabilities of Android have to offer the world.

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One Day Left Until Londonvasion 2008

AdamR — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 12:26:49 +0000

With less than 24 hours until Londonvasion 2008, the one and only phpBB conference, the 28 team members who will be attending are holding a private meeting (as seen in the picture above).

For more information and lots of discussion as well as more photos, see the discussion topic on phpBB.com

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Digital Blasphemy Membership

AdamR — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 01:17:32 +0000

One of the best purchases I’ve ever made online is a membership to Digital Blasphemy, a high-quality 3D wallpaper site. The site’s owner, Ryan Bliss, truly has impressive talent in computer generated art. His wallpaper is regularly on all of my computers.

If you love wallpaper, I encourage you to purchase a membership. This month, I’m using Starbirth 2008.

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March 2008 Desktop Wallpaper

AdamR — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:35:26 +0000

The Old Farm by *nauHs. Get it here.

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The Difference Between Social Networking and … Social Networking

AdamR — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:19:33 +0000

Typically the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions social networking is Myspace or Facebook, the two prominent social-networking based websites currently online. But have you heard of RSS as a social networking tool? What about YouTube or Twitter?

The entire goal of social networking is to provide communication methods between people, whether those people are family, friends, or simply acquaintances. While Myspace and Facebook definitely fall into the social-networking category, I don’t like to think of them as such. What you accomplish on these two sites, and others like them, is setting up a who’s who page about yourself with outlines of your interests, tastes, and an occasional blurb or journal entry about your life. You may or may not receive an occasional one-to-one comment from a friend. There’s really not much “networking” to it except in already existing social relationships.

On the other hand, services like YouTube and Twitter allow a person to not only establish communication with existing social relationships, but discover and become involved with new content and people. Following someone on Twitter becomes something that isn’t only reserved for your friends but anybody you come along on the web who writes something that interests you, thus opening up the door to more content or ideas from them.

This idea is also clear in RSS. While the original intent was simply to keep you updated on a particular web site’s content without having to actually browse to it, the potential of RSS has become much more. It allows you to subscribe to things which you otherwise would have never visited again. It shows who you are interested in as well as it shows the content producer that they have a following and gives them the opportunity to push out more of their own [b]unique[/b] content.

YouTube allows this content to be put into video form. It allows people to keep up to date with producers they like. It allows viewers to provide comments to the producers which ultimately keeps the cycle going. Viewers get ideas of their own and then become producers.

The very thing that got me into blogging was actually listening to the 2005 Northern Voice live stream podcast. The producers of content gave me ideas for blogging and helped me become a content producer myself. While I am by no means anyone “major” in the blogging community, I’m still doing it and always exploring new ways to get my content out there, both from things I’ve seen other producers do and ideas I get from the community.

This, in my opinion, is the truest form of social networking: It not only allows you to stay connected with people you know but also explore new people and content you otherwise wouldn’t have. You then have the opportunity to become a part of a whole new community.

Give your own content and people will follow. Follow people’s content and they’ll give you more content.

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It’s All About the Reader: Twitter It, YouTube It, Just Share It

AdamR — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 08:29:34 +0000

One thing that I’ve learned very quickly when I dipped my feet into the world of blogging and online technology is the importance of the reader. Ultimately, you’re not writing for yourself but for your audience. When you write a review of a product, it’s about how that product would be a good buy for your reader. When you give advice or technical support, it’s about putting it in the reader’s terms and applying it to the reader’s situation.

It’s about giving back to the community which supports you by reading your content. It all boils down to one singular idea: the community. Without the community, you have nothing. Sure, you can be producing content, but if you don’t have the backing of the community, your community, you won’t get very far.

The main importance of the community, however, is how the community can help you. A lot of times they will offer suggestions to help improve you. Collectively, this vast amount of knowledge and critique of the work you do becomes critically important to your success. If you don’t embrace the community, you lose everything, including your respect. Not only does this apply to the online blogging world, but also to products and services. I’ve covered this idea more than once (see the two blog entries previous) so I won’t repeat myself.

There aren’t too many ways to involve the community–the more the better. Get yourself on YouTube, or even Twitter. Twitter is one of those things that is ridiculously simple but can have such a profound effect on your community (speaking of which, here is my Twitter). The community subscribing to simple blurbs or mini-posts gets them surprisingly involved. It lets them tune into who you are as a content producer and get into your mind a little bit more on a casual level. Share interesting links or quick thoughts on emerging news. Let them get involved in your thought processes and they’ll only turn around a help you back by offering suggestions.

In summary: everything from products to services to blogging to online content should be first and foremost about the community. Otherwise, you end up with garbage.

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Microsoft's Progress is Slow, But Not Out of Sight

AdamR — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:34:22 +0000

We already know that Microsoft needs to start listening to the community and hearing what they have to say. We already know that not only do they need to listen, but they need to involve the community in core decision-making processes with their software, from the very planning stages. What do we as users want out of the software? What do we want to be able to do with it? How would we, as users, actually go about doing this with said software, and what features can be added to make it easier and more enjoyable?

Twoof the teams at Microsoft which have isolated themselves from this ideal are, mainly, the Windows and Office teams, and quite possibly a bit of the Windows Live team. Windows Vista, while not a disaster for me personally, was one for multitudes of people. Office 2007, while having many excellent features, was a trainwreck for the power user (Outlook 2007, anyone? No thanks…). Where are all of these complete OS/cloud integration features from Windows Live? No where to be seen.

Onthe flips side, there are many teams at Microsoft who do an incredible job at listening to users. The Xbox and Xbox Live teams, absolutely the Zune team, and while they’re not heard from too often, the Microsoft Research teams. They all listen to what users want out of products, what features, whether software or hardware, would benefit to the end user, and begin using their brilliant development minds to follow through on those ideas. They have us, the geeks and user advocates, to literally translate what the average end-user wants to do or has frustrations with into language that Microsoft developers and technical users can understand.

Onething that made headlines today is that Microsoft Research has opened up the Singularity project to the public for SDK and RDK use, for 100% free. If you do not know, Singularity is a very small Operating System which runs its microkernel and processes as managed code. Not only that, but it’s written in the C# language. For the non-technical users, this means it’s a completely different operating system than anything else out there both in terms of its programming and the potential it has. What Microsoft Research has done with Singularity is create a virtually uncrashable operating system with insane performance. People have been begging Microsoft to release this to the public, to technical users and developers, for over a year now. They’re finally listening.

Whatdoes this mean? It means that they’re making progress. It means that technical users can use Singularity, get down into its core, and start making suggestions to the Singularity team of how they’d like to see it improved. It means that with Microsoft’s brilliance, and our end user input, we could potentially be involved in the planning stages for a next-generation Operating System from Microsoft.

Now,I’m not saying that Singularity will be the base for the next version of Windows. The Singularity developers have already states that’s not its purpose. However, with input from the community, it very well could be the case that Singularity’s ideas make it into the next version of Windows, something that would significantly help us all. Nor am I saying that this has any relationship to my previous post about Microsoft’s involvement to the community, though a few people from Microsoft have already commented to me about it.

Microsoftis making progress, no matter how slow it may be. Let’s just hope it’s not too slow. And let’s hope that not only my cry to Microsoft, but that of thousands of others, speeds up that process.

Microsoft:Please listen to the community in all areas of your software development from the very planning stages. It will benefit the end user, and ultimately, it will benefit you as a company.

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Microsoft Needs Help

AdamR — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 06:16:20 +0000

First of all, please Digg this. Microsoft needs to hear our voice.

Read on. I promise I’ll get your attention.

I’m a nobody. Microsoft has probably never heard of me in any capacity. I’m not popular in the online community. I’m not an executive and I have no business experience. My opinion counts for very little and my voice is rarely heard.

I’m a user. But I’m more than that. I’m a user advocate, or at least I try to be.

I’m a geek. Or, at least, that’s what my family and friends call me. I’m the person my peers turn to when they need help with technology.

I educate. Not only do I help solve their problems, but I also educate them how to better go about using their product in the future.

I AM a user. Regardless of how much I know about technology (and I know a lot), I’m frustrated with all of it.

Microsoft isn’t all about Windows. Microsoft isn’t all about competing with other companies. Microsoft should be about me. This bold statement requires one to ask why I am so important. The answer is not all that simple given Microsoft’s current ideals surrounding their software products. Businesses and people want Microsoft products. OEM vendors pay countless sums of money in order to license Windows and other Microsoft software products to provide to customers. Microsoft owns the market and this isn’t going to change anytime soon. Why am I so important in Microsoft’s world?

I’m important because I start my computer every day and use Microsoft’s products. I’m important because my entire life in the year 2008 relies on software that Microsoft has engineered and produced with millions of working man-hours, whether it be Windows, Office, Media Center, Sync, the Zune, Windows Mobile, or Live Services. My entertainment revolves around Microsoft products. My communication revolves around Microsoft products. To restate: My life revolves around Microsoft products.

Have I gotten your attention? Probably not. Microsoft, after all, has an overwhelming reputation that they make horrible products. Bill Gates has a reputation of being a money-hording and self-righteous person. When people think about Microsoft, they think about power, control, and quite possibly, hopelessness. Let me be the first to say that I utterly loathe such statements as these for their downright ignorance to the truth.

I see it every day. I deal with it every day. “Microsoft is horrible.” “Microsoft can’t produce a good product.” “I can’t stand this new ‘Vista’”. I sit here using Windows Vista Ultimate x64 on 4 custom-built computers surrounding me, never had one single issue with Windows Vista since the public Beta, wouldn’t dare touch any other operating system, and yet I am somehow frustrated to my very core with Windows Vista.

It’s not about what’s wrong with Vista. It’s about what’s not right with Vista. It’s about overpromising and under delivering. It’s about why my voice and the voice of countless others has been all but silenced in the ears of Microsoft’s decision-makers. I’m not frustrated with the product. I’m frustrated with the ideology that Microsoft has adopted over the last decade.

What happened to Microsoft’s original idea of technology in the hands of the average person?

The average person has been removed from the map in Microsoft’s mind. The end user has been allowed to be trampled on by not only the products that Microsoft releases, but also the ways in which they are released to the customer. Microsoft has allowed OEMs to not only frustrate, agitate, and torment end users with technology, but also cause the horrible reputation that Microsoft has in the software community at this very point. Microsoft has lost all quality control outside of the development labs and the end user, the very people that matter the most to the success of Microsoft, are suffering because of it.

The frustrating thing from my perspective is that the end user typically is too ignorant to know what to do about it. They don’t know what hardware to buy or which software to run. They don’t know how important updates are. They don’t know the difference between Allow and Cancel in UAC. They come to us, people like me, the geeks, the user advocates, pleading for a solution. We try our absolute best to not only provide this solution but educate them in the meantime.

And we, the community of user advocates, have been begging Microsoft to listen to us for over a decade. We, the community of user advocates, are the most user-facing people Microsoft has to tell them what people want in Microsoft’s products. We, the community of user advocates, have been utterly ignored for over a decade. And yet, we, the community of user advocates, have not stopped our relentless plea for Microsoft to hear our voices as customers, as loyal customers, who want nothing other than a quality product for us to advocate to our peers; for us to evangelize to everyone around us; for us to be able to say “This product is AWESOME.”

That’s us. Who is Microsoft and what can they do?

Microsoft is a company with potential like no other software company in the world. Microsoft is a company which houses some of the most brilliant minds in technology. Microsoft is a company which contributes more to technology as a whole through things which stem out of Microsoft Research. Microsoft is a pioneer in the gaming industry. Microsoft is one of the greatest success stories this world has ever seen.

There are areas of Microsoft, including those I have just mentioned, which have done so much for the end user. Microsoft Research listens to what users want to see in products. Where are these amazing technologies in primetime Microsoft products? The Xbox Live community is virtually flawless. Why isn’t this development strategy used when developing other Microsoft software? I saw dozens of tips submitted to Microsoft about how the Zune 1.0 could be improved: all of them made it into Zune 2.0 and it’s a fantastic product, better than anything else out there. What happened to Windows?

Microsoft needs to stop thinking about how their operating system software and office productivity software will benefit corporate environments. Microsoft needs to dedicate entire teams to finding out what the community has to say about their products and how they can be improved in the way that users want, not the way that Microsoft executives want. Not only do these teams need to be created, but these teams need to have direct influence as to where, how, and when these ideas make it into core Microsoft products.

Microsoft has long had conferences where they get feedback from users. Why haven’t any of these major ideas made it into Microsoft products? What happened to the lines of communication? Which Microsoft executive decided our ideas weren’t good enough for the product?

Microsoft has to stop thinking about its business partners and start thinking about itself for once. While Microsoft benefits financially by partnering with, say, Hewlett-Packard, HP is one of the prime examples of an OEM which is utterly trashing Microsoft’s reputation by bundling software which is not only completely pointless, but ultimately hurts the user’s experience with the Windows operating system. HP has turned a Microsoft product into an HP branded product, complete with trial software from companies which no one has ever heard of or services which will never be used just so HP can make money.

Microsoft needs to threaten OEMs concerning such behavior which tarnish their reputation. Microsoft needs place strict limits as to which hardware and which software is allowed to be installed on these machines which are sold to consumers in order for Microsoft to provide OEMs with the licenses in the first place. And Microsoft needs to put their money where their mouth is and actually follow through with pulling OEMs licensing for those who do not completely and fully comply. This would and does require a virtual reconstruction of Microsoft’s business ideals.

OEMs are controlling Microsoft at this point and it’s hurting us. Advertisers and software which have little use for the consumer are controlling OEMs and they’re hurting us even more. It’s Microsoft’s duty to step in on behalf of the end user and provide them with the experience they deserve. Not only is it the end user’s experience that’s on the line, it’s clearly Microsoft’s reputation and future support from the community.

Have I gotten your attention? I most certainly hope so.

I’d like to think that all of my dedication (and not only mine but the tens of thousands of people in the community), will have paid off in the end by Microsoft undergoing major changes in order to better involve the community as a core part of the company, as advisors and consultants, to improve the quality of Microsoft’s products, Microsoft’s reputation, Microsoft’s stance within the technology and software world, and Microsoft’s future as a great company who actually listens to their users.

You can’t know how long we wait for the day that people can actually say they respect Microsoft. And believe me, we won’t be giving up anytime soon should our efforts at this point in time be ignored just like the rest. The reason we never give up is because we care about the end user; ultimately we are just end users ourselves who happen to know about the technology behind product.

We want quality. We want a voice. We want to be embraced by a company who could give us such amazing products. We want Microsoft to succeed.

Please help us.

On behalf of the entire Windows and technology user community,

Adam Reyher

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phpBB Makes Its Way to Computerworld

AdamR — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 13:57:46 +0000

I am currently a team member, support team member to be exact, for the open-source phpBB project. Last week, Computerworld Australia asked us several questions about version 3.0 that we released 2 months ago. I was glad to be a part of answering some of these questions.

You can check out the article, entitled phpBB3 takes giant strides from predecessor from Computerworld’s Australia site, located here.

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The Power of Blogging in 2008

AdamR — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 18:54:32 +0000

Ten years ago if you would have told someone you had a blog, they would have been confused. While the term itself has existed for around 9 years now, its current meaning wasn’t realized until around 2003 or 2004. Originally, it simply meant “weblog” or a journal of your life online. You described events that happened to you just like you would in a handwritten personal journal.

These days, a blog is much more than a journal. While many people operate “web journals,” a much smaller portion operates what I would consider to be a true “blog” in its current meaning. Blogs have become a place for not only journalism by the public (which has seriously impacted the area of politics), but also a way to provide and spread information. Some of the most popular blogs on the internet take current events, provide their own opinions concerning those events, and make any recommendations or suggestions as a result.

Blogs have become what I believe the single most powerful and influential medium of the spread of information, whatever it may be, across the internet. Ranging from “how to” articles, to in-depth critiques of politics, to why you liked the movie you saw last night or why you chose to purchase a specific product, it not only covers a wide range of topics, but also carries a lot of power. Blogs get information out there.

I personally saw this power firsthand, albeit not as major as some people have. When I wrote about the trouble I had with Kensington’s website and trouble with Kensington’s customer support line, four days later I received a comment on that post from Kensington’s product manager about the issue. How he found the blog entry, I’ll never know. At no point did I give out my website or email address which could have led him there. Chances are he was doing a PR search concerning Kensington and found my blog entry. One week later, I not only got the product I was looking for, but got it for free and only after he had gone through a bit of trouble to find a discontinued item for me.

While that item was only a mousepad, it even more shows the true power of blogging in 2008. If someone such as that product manager is so concerned about every bit of PR out there about his company, even about a mousepad, how much more concerned should politicians be concerning world matters and the voices of the public?

This is demonstrated by people around the world being executed and imprisoned for giving their opinion online concerning their local politics.

What do you think? How powerful is blogging really, and how will it change things in 2008 and beyond?

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Tips for Keeping Vista Running Smoothly

AdamR — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 00:12:01 +0000

As we all know, people are having issues with Windows Vista. While personally I know that these issues truly aren’t the fault of Windows itself, the world seems to want to think of it that way. Here are some tips to keeping Vista running smoothly:

Don’t buy your computer cheap. Now, I know this doesn’t help people who already own a computer with Vista, but for anyone looking to get a new machine in the near future, my advice is to not go cheap. Ultimately, you’ll be getting bad or unstable hardware which will cause you a plethora of problems with Vista in the future. If you’re buying a desktop, I’d recommend spending at least $700 for the tower itself, not including the monitor and peripherals. This way you know you’re most likely getting higher quality hardware.
Keep your computer clean. Don’t be installing tons of software you’re only going to use once. I personally go through my Remove Programs list once a week and uninstall anything I don’t need again. Don’t let programs launch when Windows starts up. Only open programs when you need them. If you don’t know how to turn off a program from starting up when Windows starts, there’s a great way to stop it from happening.
1) Hit Windows + R and type “msconfig”. Hit Enter. If Windows asks you to allow, hit Allow or Continue.
2) Go to the Startup tab and uncheck any programs you don’t need running when Windows starts up. This includes things like Adobe, MSN, AOL, Quicktime, Java, or iTunes. Be sure not to disable any Microsoft items or Antivirus/Antispyware!
Have a computer with a dual core or quad core processor? Use it! For some strange reason, Windows will not use multiple cores when booting up the computer. Once you’re in Windows it will use them, but not during the boot process. This significantly slows things down. Here’s how you can turn on the other cores:
1) Hit Windows + R and type “msconfig”. Hit Entier. If Windows asks you to allow, hit Allow or Continue.
2) Go to the Boot tab and click Advanced Options. Check the “Number of Processors” box and from the drop down, select 2 or 4 or however many processors your computer has. Note that if you only have 2 cores, only 2 will be listed. If you have 4, only 4 will be listed and so forth, so chose the maximum number in this list.
Use a good Antivirus and Antispyware program. By “good,” I mean a few things. Firstly, the detection rate needs to be high. Secondly, is it a “lightweight” program. What I mean by this is how much resources does it use on your computer? The number 1 cause of slowness on computers is not the hardware but the Antivirus program that is running in the background. Absolute no-go programs are Norton, McAfee, or AOL protection. These programs will bring your computer to an absolute crawl regardless of how powerful it is. The #1 program that I recommend is Kaspersky Internet Security (kaspersky.com). Kaspersky is a full internet protection suite protecting you against both viruses and spyware. It is extremely lightweight and runs in the background without you even knowing it’s there. Another recommendation would be Trend Micro Internet Security (trendmicro.com). I personally don’t like this as much as Kaspersky, but it is a very decent solution.
Keep your desktop clean. Surprisingly, the number of icons you have on your desktop can affect the performance of your computer. While this isn’t as much of an issue with higher-end machines with good graphics cards, you’ll notice performance hits on lower end machines since the computer needs to re-render all of these icons every time you go back to your desktop. Folders are a Godsend. Use them.
Useless programs, while sometimes fun, can actually hurt your computer. This includes stuff like Weather programs which keep you updated (use the Sidebar in Vista!), programs that change your mouse cursor, or toolbars for your browser. More often than not, these programs also contain high amounts of viruses and spyware. Stay away from them.
Leave your computer on all the time. In the pre-Windows XP days, leaving your computer on 24/7 was a sin. The reason for this was that the hardware in your computer wasn’t meant to be kept running for that long. These days, the same exact hardware that’s going into enterprise-level servers is pretty much what you’ve got sitting in your computer. It can more than withstand staying on all the time. The advantage to this is huge: Windows Vista will automatically perform maintenance on the computer while its not in use, such as defragmenting the hard drive. Also, constantly shutting down/booting up your computer will effect performance of things like Superfetch as it has to not only load Windows, but commonly used applications when booting up.

So there you go. That’s my list of tips for running Windows Vista smoothly. I hope they can be of help to you.

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Just When You Think You Have it Perfect

AdamR — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 05:19:24 +0000

It all started with this, my awesome keyboard. Three weeks ago, the Logitech bluetooth receiver decided to go bad on me, leaving me with no keyboard other than a 8 year old Microsoft PS/2 model which I’m surprised still has more than half of the keys working.

Just prior to this time, my motherboard’s PCIe-x16 slots went out as well. Luckily, ASUS has a relatively no-questions-asked Warrenty Exchange policy and I shipped it out for an exchange. It just so happens that I had a brand new Intel motherboard sitting around which I was planning on using for a secondary machine which would, in turn, become my server. I installed my Intel board, and with a quick reactivation of Windows, I was on my way. Then, the keyboard receiver gave out.

Unfortunately, the Intel motherboard doesn’t have any PS/2 ports, which left me without a keyboard for around 24 hours. I quickly picked up a $10 wired USB keyboard from my local Best Buy. I then proceeded to call Logitech and, once again, ship out the bad receiver for a no-questions-asked warranty exchange of the receiver.

Two days ago, the receiver arrived in the mail and I was quite ready to get rid of that horrible wired keyboard and go back to the diNovo Edge. My ASUS motherboard also arrived. Upon plugging in the receiver to my computer, Windows seemed unable to locate any drivers for the device. This was rather strange considering it shouldn’t need any drivers and the fact that Logitech doesn’t even provide any.

After a lot of diagnosing and registry tweaking, I determined that somehow, somewhere, the malfunctioning USB receiver corrupted some driver somewhere on my Windows installation and I for the life of me couldn’t figure out how to reverse that damage.

I also recently decided to upgrade from a total of 380GB of HDD storage to 2×500GB drives for a total of 1TB. Given the current events, I thought it best just to pull my old hard drives out, switch back to my ASUS motherboard, throw in two brand new drives, and reinstall Windows completely. I begin this process at around 11PM. Formatting my new 500GB HDD took around two hours first.

Three hours later (that’s 2AM), I’m back in Windows Vista x64 and everything seems to be working perfectly, including my diNovo Edge keyboard.

Oh boy was I wrong.

An hour into installing all of my commonly-used applications (now 3AM), and right in the middle of formatting the secondary 500GB hard drive, my computer suddenly shuts itself off without warning. There was no crash. It was as if someone pulled the power cord out of the wall.

I think to myself, that was odd, and reboot the computer. Once again, I come back into Windows and all seems to be running fine for about 5 minutes when it happens again.

At this point, I start thinking that my BIOS settings are messed up or I didn’t install the CPU’s heatsink on the motherboard properly so my CPU was significantly overheating and shutting the unit off. Upon going into BIOS and looking at the hardware monitor, I discover that, indeed, the CPU is running farely warm. About 50 degrees Celsius too warm for idling. I instantly think this is the cause of my issues, so I remove the heatsink, reset the processor, and reattach the heatsink. (now around 4AM)

Now, the problem I faced at this point was two-fold. 1) The thermal compond was a bit old and needed to be replaced and 2) the brackets which latch the heatsink to the motherboard were worn and the heatsink wouldn’t set tight enoguh on the motherboard. I decided that, considering it’s 4AM, it would be best I go to bed and continue this journey in the morning.

Bright and early (that means 10AM for me), I wake up and take a drive out to run a few errands, including picking up a new heatsink and fan. I decided that while I’m out, I might as well buy some external hard drive enclosures in order for me to easily transfer the data off of my old HDDs to my new ones. I also picked up a brand new computer case which would help with cooling significantly.

After driving a total of 75 miles all over the city of Tampa just to find stores that have what I need in stock, I arrive back home around 3PM and begin assembling my computer from scratch as I now need to switch cases.

Around 4PM, I finish this process, plug my computer back in, and, to my surprise, it actually boots the first time. The CPU is running extremely cool as are all the other components thanks to the new case. Windows sees that there was a problem shutting off previously (no kidding) and proceeds to run chkdsk on the primary partition. However, about 10 minutes into running chkdsk, it suddenly locks up and does absolutely nothing. I rebooted the computer, and again, experienced the same thing.

At this point I’m just about to lose all self control. I say to myself, “Screw it” and reformat and reinstall Windows once again. Two hours later (around 6:30PM), Windows is installed and I proceed to install drivers. To my despair, halfway through this process, I lose all power to the unit just like before.

I was at a full and complete loss for what to do next. I thought I’d tried everything … until I noticed one key issue.

The fan on my power supply wasn’t spinning.

As it turns out, the issue with the power loss was because the power supply (not the CPU) was overheating and shutting down automatically. This was ridiculously odd considering I have only owned that PSU for around a month.

I rebox it, and head back to the Best Buy where I purchased it and get an exchange.

To make a long story short (it’s too late I think), just over 24 hours later, my computer is back up and running perfectly smooth.

Let’s hope it stays that way for a VERY long time…

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Answering Zune Questions

AdamR — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 02:06:19 +0000

My last post regarding the Zune 2.2 release gained quite a bit of attention! I’ve gotten several questions through the Ask Me section about various Zune-related issues.

I’ve selected two of the primary questions. I’ll try to address these as best as I can.

Here goes…

The first one comes from Gordon:

So… I have music that I want to arrange into an album, but the new Zune interface seems to stubbornly not let me manually manage my files individually. Even though the “album” name is the same, as long as the artist of the files are different, it separates that collection as separate albums. Am I missing something? I really would hate to have to reorganize what I already have on my zune unit.

–Gordon

That’s, unfortunately, from what I’m aware, an issue with most music libraries. Primarily, songs in the library are organized by Artist > Album > Song, so if the album name is the same, but the artist is different, it will separate them. However, in several of my cases, this hasn’t been a problem. For most of my “Various Artists” tracks, the primary Artist is “Various Artists” while the “Contributing Artist” is different. This way, an individual song will split up when viewing songs by a particular artist, but when viewing albums, all of them are together. You might try a setup similar to this and see if it works.

From Larry:

I am having trouble trying to reinstall the firmware on my zune 30. I have the zune to the point where it says to connect to pc but that is as far as it goes because the zune software program says the firmware is up to date. So what next?

Have you tried restoring the software on the Zune? Note that this will delete all contents of the Zune, so be sure everything is in your library first. On the Zune 30, the first step is to hold the back <- button and the UP button on the pad at the same time. Then, press and hold the back <- button, the leftOK button the same time. The device should then begin restoring and will take a few minutes. After this is finished, the device will ask to be connected to your PC at which point will update the Zune firmware and sync if applicable. Hope this helps!

- Adam

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It’s the Microsoft Zune 2.2

AdamR — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 21:26:30 +0000

Today saw the release of the second generation of the Zune MP3 players as well as a new firmware patch for existing Zune customers. While the physical device of the new Zunes may be a bit different, what makes this release interesting is that the new firmware updated existing Zunes to have exactly the same functionality as the new units off of the shelf.

Today also saw the release of the new Zune marketplace software for the computer, replacing the old Windows Media Player 11 shell which integrated with MTV’s URGE (who has since switched partnerships to Rhapsody).

First thing this morning I got on my computer, uninstalled the current Zune software in preparation for the upgrade. When I went to the Zune website, to first delight (with may more to follow), the Zune software now supports the x64 Windows platform … natively. Good job, Microsoft. You’re pushing things forward. But what about the software itself?

I executed the x64 installer. Already the UI was looking clean and efficient. The installer checked for updates, installed the necessary Zune drivers, and then installed the software quite seamlessly. Once again, I was impressed. The installer then proceeded to launch the actual Zune software which asked me to enter my existing Zune Social account (Windows Live ID) or create a new one. I entered my existing information, and now it was off to configure the Zune device. I docked it up, and just that fast I was installing the Zune 2.2 firmware to the device. A few seconds later, my device was fully connected, updated, and presenting me with the wonderful new menu system.

But here’s the real thing. Once I got into my library (which was already pre-recognized), the interface was like nothing else I’d seen before. The default font? It’s called “Zegoe” and it’s a version of the Segoe and Calibri typefaces. I don’t need anything else to fall in love with it. The UI is completely seamless. Selecting artists, albums, and songs provide beautiful transitions that makes me feel like I’m inside of a Flash or Silverlight application.

The marketplace loads literally 10 times faster than it did in the old software. The organization of the new albums and genres is fantastic. The search feature is literally instant and allows you to find exactly what you want immediately. There’s no sharp edges, there’s no slow loads. There’s no fast transitions without fade effects. The whole UI experience is better than any Windows application that I’ve ever used. I wish I was exaggerating but I’m not. It’s that good.

The only issue I have with the software is this: It’s memory intensive. On first launch, the Zune software uses approximately 85MB. That’s without touching anything or any music playing. That’s a lot for an application. However, the upside to this is, as I have said, there is absolutely zero lag time. Now, granted, I have a decent machine which can handle just about anything you throw at it, but even the old software lagged significantly on this machine, both on the x86 platform and the x64 platform. Not the new software.

Podcast support is another big addition to the software. RSS feed subscription is integrated as well. The best part about this is that you don’t need any Zune-specific feed like you do with iTunes (which needs special iTunes tags, etc). If someone has a podcast feed going through, say, FeedBurner, it’ll work with the Zune. It’s really that simple and I wouldn’t be surprised if more and more bloggers and podcast creators start supporting the new Zune over the iPod.

The device, while boasting only a few major upgrades, is quite a nice firmware update as well. The biggest feature is wireless syncing. The old devices (which I have) had built in WiFi, but up until now you couldn’t use this for anything other than connecting with other Zunes. However, this new firmware update allows you to sync your music library to your device … wirelessly. Just setup your wireless router’s information in the Zune software, pass it to the device, and you’re off. Updates come automatically and there’s no need for cords ever again unless you need to charge the unit. I was conviced that this would have been very “techy” to set up, but to my surprise, it was extremely easy and straigtforward.

In conclusion, I have practically nothing but kudos to give to Microsoft’s Zune team for this update. It’s great.

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Getting into Windows Vista x64

AdamR — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 13:19:09 +0000

I went against my better judgment and formatted my desktop’s main hard drive in order to reinstall Windows Vista Home Premium. This time, I decided to install the x64 (64-bit) version of Windows. The advantages of an x64 operating system are numerous. Applications designed with x64 in mind will run ridiculously faster, such as multimedia applications, server services, and even the latest games. The operating system itself will also perform a fair bet better. However, x64, for the average user, does have it’s extreme downsides.

For example, have you ever had a window pop up when installing a new device telling you that a “driver isn’t signed by Microsoft” and then asking you if you wish to proceed? The good news is that box doesn’t exist in the x64 version of Windows. The bad news is you can’t install any drivers whatsoever that haven’t been signed by Microsoft. That eliminates a majority of devices and drivers out there.

I know what you’re probably thinking, though: I’m insane. And in most cases you’d probably be right. However, I did a fair bit of research and came to the conclusion that Windows x64 is the right direction for me. Here were my reasons:

1) Compared to x86 (32-bit), x64 (64-bit) Windows has horrible driver support. More often than not, you won’t find the driver you need for peripheral devices such as printers. However, in my case, I extensively researched my hardware and discovered that all of it has up-to-date x64 drivers, all signed by Microsoft. Any peripherals that I purchase are typically high name-brand devices (such as Creative, Logitech, HP, etc) which I know will have signed drivers from the get-go. I never go generic, and to be honest, neither should you when it comes to computer technology. I’ll only get you in trouble in the long run.

2) The programs that I run on a day-to-day basis are either fully, or partly “with a few minor quirks” compatible with an x64 operating system. Once again, I try to stay away from specialized software or generic brands. Also, I’m a major geek, so if I ever need to run an application that doesn’t support x64, I’ll just run it in my Windows XP x86 virtual environment.

3) As I just indicated, I’m a geek. That means I’ll intentionally put myself through trouble just to have the best stuff. An x64 operating system is a bit different, mostly in highly-technical ways. The average user isn’t going to see a UI difference or anything. But the nitty-gritty backend has some pretty major improvements, and as a geek, I want to take advantage of those, play around with them, possibly screw up, and find out how to fix my mistakes.

4) And to put it simply: I want higher framerates in Crysis. But in all seriousness, I wan raw performance in every aspect of my machine, which includes the operating system. Windows Vista x64 is the right choice for me.

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Help me, Apple. Please.

AdamR — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 18:23:16 +0000

Everyone knows that I’m an outspoken Windows user. I’m running Windows Vista on 5 machines in my house (completely stable, mind you), and a server in my house is running Server 2003. My desktop is specced out from a custom build.

That’s why it’s interesting that I’m writing this right now. Over the last few years, I’ve slowly grown an appreciation towards Apple’s OS X. As much as I’m surprised to say it, I have actually (and am currently) debating becoming one of the so-called “switchers” at least in part.

Let me say first of all that I’m still a die-hard Windows user. Windows has been great for me. Vista is a solid upgrade over XP. But whether or not Vista or Windows has been a good experience for me (and it has), Windows is slowly becoming a dying brand. There’s a massive amount of bad PR against Windows, regardless of whether it’s justified bad PR or not (which most of it isn’t). Windows has lost respect … and I’m doubting that unless Windows 7 pulls off a miracle, it will never get it back.

At this point in time, like I said, I’m seriously considering switching most of my daily work to a Mac machine. The issue of not being able to run the same applications is a moot point now. It wasn’t 5 years ago, but it certainly is now. While OS X inherently doesn’t have as many applications availble for it, there’s plenty of alternatives. The rest you can pretty much run flawlessly inside of a Virtual machine such as Parallels or VMWare Fusion.

Previously, as a power user, the main reason holding me back from getting a Mac was the hardware performance. Regardless of whether or not Apple refused to believe it, both Intel and AMD had much more powerful chips than the G3, G4, or G5 at any point in time. The benchmarks were overwhelmingly in favor of the PC.

That, again, is a moot point since the transition to Intel chips. The only difference between a Mac machine and a PC now is the type of BIOS system that Mac uses.

The other thing that was holding me back was the software. As a hobbiest .NET developer, I rely heavily on applications such as Visual Studio 2005 or SQL Server 2005. You can’t run these on a Mac … or can you? Only recently has Parallels and VMWare Fusion fully supported both of these. I can run both of them in a Virtual Windows installation without any problems at all.

At this point there’s only one single thing holding me back from getting a Mac and getting the best of both worlds (Windows and OS X) … the price. As a power user and someone who is wanting to run development and enterprise-level applications such as Visual Studio in multiple instances and SQL Server 2005, an iMac + a Virtual machine just isn’t going to cut it. I’d be required to get a Mac Pro. Even with the education discount (and the discount I get from working for Best Buy), I’d still be forking out $2300 at a minimum. And that’s only with 1GB of RAM and an 250GB HDD. That’s pathetic.

In order for my needs as a power user to be met, I’d need to spend around $3200+ for a Power Mac. Considering I have 3 machines currently sitting on my desk, I honestly can’t justify that cost. And it’s not that I can’t justify it … if I had that kind of money freely avaiable, trust me, I’d buy a Mac Pro in a heartbeat. The fact of the matter is that I can’t. Even as a college student who is 1) living at home for free and 2) receiving a 100% free education thanks to the state of Florida, and 3) making a respectable amount of money working as a Geek Squad agent in Best Buy, I just don’t have that kind of money to spend.

Apple: If you’re reading this, I beg of you. Help me. Help those of us who are in the same position. There has to be SOME way we can do this without having to spend that much money.

Help me, Apple. Please.

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