Worst blogger ever??? And my new and recent iOS experience.

Perhaps...

I haven't written a blog article this year. This year... As in, almost five months. It's easy to blame long work hours and other life situations, but ultimately I'm responsible. What a slacker.

I find myself almost daily thinking of new ideas to write about. I want to make writing a priority again. So, let's start today.

So much has happened in the last five months on the technology front. Ice Cream Sandwich. iPad 3. iOS. Samsung Galaxy Nexus. New Motorola tablets released shortly after Google bought Motorola Mobility. Kindle Fire.

I find myself in a bit of a techno-conundrum. Last week I purchased a new iPod touch. My 80GB iPod classic is still working. It's 5 years old now and although I've had no problems with it, I'm not sure at what point the device will give out or begin having problems. I've generally had very good luck with Apple products, their hardware is generally very reliable. However, an iPod is a small device that gets thrown around a lot. I'm going on a 5 month work trip soon and won't have access to the iMac I have at home, so if the iPod were to lock up or fail, I'd have no music for up to 5 months. Given my music addiction, this is unacceptable. The iPod touch can also access the iTunes music store through wi-fi without being connected to a Mac, another plus. And finally, the iPod touch has Facetime. I plan on using Facetime to chat with my family on the iMac while I'm away. I upgraded my iMac to OS X Lion so we could set up Facetime and iCloud.

Now before purchasing my iPod touch, I had been listening to all of my music on my Droid Razr, Samsung Chromebook, or Kindle Fire using Google Music or Amazon MP3 player (the iPod classic is used mostly in the car). I've purchased music from both services and have uploaded most of my music collection to the Google cloud. The Razr headphone jack periodically won't work, but when it does I'd use it with my Etymotic Research HF3 headphones, which are very accurate. After getting my new iPod touch, I downloaded some previously purchased music in the iTunes Music store (thank you, iCloud!) and bought some new albums as well. I was astonished at how much better my music sounded on the iPod touch. I've done back to back comparisons, and there really is a difference.

When we tried out Facetime, my wife and I were very impressed and surprised at just how good it is. We had used Google video chat via Gmail before on my Chromebook, but the quality of the video on Facetime just seemed much better. This led to another discussion we had been having for the last several months. Last year I left Sprint for Verizon because my Sprint phone could never find a signal where I work in California. I opted for the Droid Razr, since I already knew Android and use Google services extensively. After trying out facetime, my wife agreed we should switch her over to Verizon. We got her the iPhone 4S.

Between learning iOS on my iPod touch and setting up her new iPhone, I've been surprised how much I like iOS. I shouldn't be surprised...I've loved my Macs and Mac OS X for years. But being the computer nerd I am, I think I bought in to a lot of the anti-Apple hype when I got my Android device. The big reason I never jumped on an iPhone in the early days was that I didn't want AT&T...ever. But the more I learned about how iCloud worked, when I saw how good the keyboard on the iPhone and iPod touch are, and when I saw how good the Facetime app worked...I just found myself thinking "Why didn't we do this sooner??" I even prefer the iOS version of the Google+ app to the Android version.

So, do I stay with Android (where's my ICS upgrade, Moto??) or do I come back to the Apple fold when the iPhone 5 comes out? Why do I feel like it has to be one or the other? Do any of you mix and match between Android and iOS devices?

What do you get when you give an idiot a tablet...?

...a customer review of the Kindle Fire on Amazon.com, that's what.

I'm not sure why, but I'm interested in the Kindle Fire. As you may (or may not) know, I sold my last tablet after 5 weeks and bought a Chromebook (which I still love). My reasons were that I didn't feel the capabilities of the Honeycomb powered tablet would replace my netbook. I didn't like all the fingerprints, didn't like the apps that were primarily written for smartphones, and couldn't imagine trying to do anything that required serious amounts of typing (blog, anyone?) on the Xoom. However, there were many things the Xoom did well. Reading magazines on it was great, watching movies and HD Youtube videos was fantastic, and catching up on news with apps such as Pulse were very enjoyable. I thought it was a great piece of hardware, but at $400 I felt it was too expensive for a device that only met some of my needs and would ultimately end up being a content viewer.

So, even though I decided I'm not a tablet person, I find myself interested in the Kindle Fire. I'm already an Amazon Prime member, so it's a great way to access content that I'm already paying for. I think the smaller form factor would make it more comfortable to hold for watching movies and reading, and (most importantly) I can justify paying $200 for what would be purely an entertainment device. When I tried out a demo unit at Best buy I was pretty impressed with what I saw. The pre-loaded movies looked crisp and played smoothly, the user interface seemed easy to use, and magazines...although a bit small, looked great in full color. I think I may have to pick one up.

Which brings me to the reason I'm writing tonight...and the reason for the harsh title of this post. You see, when I'm interested in purchasing something that costs more than, say, $50, I do my homework. Yes, Martha, I'm a gadget nerd so I actually enjoy the research and reading. The great thing about shopping online is being able to read the customer reviews, and Amazon has gone to great lengths to make customer reviews relevant to the products they sell. They even have a link on each review that tell you whether or not the reviewer actually purchased the product from Amazon.

I am shocked at how many truly idiotic reviews there are for the Kindle Fire on Amazon.com. One reviewer swears that they were told by Amazon that the Kindle Fire was not compatible with their Apple Airport wireless router, and they could never get it to connect. Several others were upset that they didn't know the Fire required a wi-fi connection. And many others complained that the Fire was not suitable for their children, ranging from 3 to 9 years of age, because the one-click content purchasing feature makes it too easy for their children to rack up purchases on their credit cards. There was the guy who was angry that Christmas was ruined for his wife when the Kindle arrived in a box that said Kindle Fire, even though he didn't choose to have it gift wrapped. He was equally angry that Amazon would have the audacity to send a welcome email to the email address of his wife that he supplied at the time of purchase so the device would be ready to work right out of the box. Then there's the one-star rating written by a reviewer who had horrible customer service from Barnes and Noble and swore up and down that she'd never by a Nook Color again. Yes, she gave the Kindle Fire a 1 star rating because she didn't like B&N's product.

I brought up similar issues with complaints about the Chromebook, but these reviews are just jaw-droppers. After reading these, it's clear that I need to invent a tablet that runs circles around the iPad, is tough enough and easy enough to hand to a 3 year old, has to be waterproof, come with free always on 3g/4g/wi-fi connectivity, comes with a free lifetime warranty that covers anything, comes with free music/movies/books/apps, and costs $15. I'm gonna get to work on that, right after I finish riding my pet dragon to the moon.

How Steve Jobs made me a rock star...

It's been several weeks since the passing of Steve Jobs, and although I wanted to tell this story when he died I felt the Web was a bit overwhelmed with Steve Jobs stories, so I decided to wait. Between reading his newly published biography and working long hours, I've found some time to write...so, here it is.

Back in 2005 I updated my iMac and installed some new programs as well, one of which was called Garage Band. I have been a self-taught guitar player since 1991 and the idea of plugging into my computer and recording music intrigued me to say the least. I knew computers were being used in the recording industry for years, but most of those programs were expensive, complicated to use, and required special hardware interfaces in order to get the sound from the instruments and/or voice into the application. I bought a special cable at the Apple Store so I could plug my Strat in and started playing around with the program.

I was like a kid in a candy store. With Garage Band I could create drum tracks, and then record as many different guitar tracks as I wanted. I could choose different guitar sounds, amplifier types, and pedal effects. I was so impressed with the program that I brought my brother-in-law, Mike, over to check it out. Mike is more of a lead guitar player where as I am a rhythm guitar player, we'd jammed together a handful of times over the years and had similar tastes in music. He was as amazed as I was at the power and simplicity of the Garage Band application. We would sit at the computer and take turns with my Strat laying down tracks and drinking large quantities of beer. We saved all the songs we worked on and burned a few to a disk. Mike took it with him and let our friend Tim, a self taught drummer, listen to our project. He was blown away, he couldn't believe that what was on that disk was just the two of us, one guitar, and a bunch of beer. A week later, Tim called us and announced he had bought a drum kit, that night the three of us got together and jammed for the first time.

A couple of weeks later I was at a party and ran into my friend Fern. I told him about Garage Band, our project, and how we had started jamming and, the part I was most excited about, how we had started writing our own songs. "You guys need a bass player?" was his response. I didn't know he was a musician, and later it would become evident that Fern was our secret weapon...a trained musician and awesome bass player.

Weeks of jamming, writing, and drinking ensued and at some point while drinking tequila with my friends the name King Karl was uttered, and the band was officially born. Over the next three years we would write nearly 20 original songs, get paid to play in Tucson bars, and at our peak in 2008 we would be selected as a top five finalist for a televised battle of the bands put on by our local Fox station and held at the historic Rialto Theater. I made our music video submission on my iMac using iMovie and iDVD software. To me, playing on the same stage where I saw many of my favorite bands, from 311, to Cake, to Disturbed, and even Megadeth, was literally a dream come true. I was, on a small scale and for a short amount of time, a rock star.

As so often happens in life, King Karl stopped playing music in 2008. Careers, family, and...well, life...ended our band. We were all friends before the band and remain friends after, and we love talking about the good old days.

I've told many people over the years how my Mac turned us into a rock stars. It wasn't until the passing of Steve Jobs that I actually thought about it, but if it weren't for Steve, it is highly likely that our band would never have been created, let alone be successful. If he hadn't help start Apple, re-create the company with the original iMac, and continue the evolution with OS X and iApps like Garage Band, then five 30-something guys from Tucson would never have the great memories of writing, playing, and performing original music together. I'm still reading Steve Job's biography, and I was tickled to find out that he was a music lover. I wonder what he would have thought about our music. He probably would have hated it, but would have been pleased that he had a hand in sparking our creativity.

Thank you, Steve Jobs, for making me a rock star and giving me my 15 minutes of fame.

Video for "T.V. Song" that got us into the Tucson Music Melee in 2008

Made on my iMac.

The long overdue Chromebook initial review

It's been three weeks since I purchased my Samsung Series 5 Chromebook from Amazon.com. I realize that three weeks time is a bit long for an initial review of a product, but better late than never I always say. Ok, I never say that...forgive me.

My new Chromebook arrived in a very nice, dare I say Apple-like, white box which contained the Series 5 3G Chromebook, the charging cable, a display adapter, and a very small plastic bag with very little in the way of paperwork and instructions. I plugged in the device and to my surprise it powered on as soon as I opened the lid...very slick! After signing in with my Google account information, I quickly connected to my network. The device then started to download updates. Once that was complete, I was off and running. Everything you have read about the Chromebook booting fast is true, less than 8 seconds from a cold boot and a near instantaneous wake-up from sleep. All my bookmarks, settings, theme, and web apps were automatically brought in when I logged into the Chromebook for the first time. Keep in mind though, if you use the Chrome browser on another machine and you want all your settings to transfer over you must enable google sync in your web browser's settings.

There's a lot to like in the little Samsung Chromebook. I really like the build quality...it's not Apple Aluminum but it doesn't cost $1400 either. The device is lightweight, but not a featherweight. It's the perfect size; large enough for a spacious display and a very good full size keyboard, but small enough to take anywhere. The battery life is truly amazing...8.5 hours on a full charge means not having to lug my charging cable with me everywhere. And compared to my old Samsung netbook and my Dell 17" core i7 work laptop, the Chromebook produces little to no heat so you can use it on your lap without burning a hole in your dermis. Consequently, the cooling fan is quite small and makes little to no noise. And lastly, although I didn't think I'd use it as much as I have, the Verizon 3G connectivity is a fantastic feature. It's liberating to know that if you aren't close to a wi-fi network then you can jump on the Verizon network and get stuff done. The price of the device includes 100 MB per month of free 3G data for two years. This will work in a pinch to send off a quick email or occasionally check Google+, but when you run out you can purchase more data starting at 1GB for 30 days for $20...no contract, and it doesn't renew automatically...pay as you go.

Which leads me to my list of dislikes. The process to register/buy more data with Verizon is quite slow. There's also currently no way to buy more data ahead of time...you have to wait until you run out then go through the lengthy process of buying more time. To be fair, Verizon says they are working on speeding the process up, I hope they succeed. There also is some network quirkiness that happens when you opt to purchase the 3G Chromebook versus the model with wi-fi only. I had to check with other users in the Chromebook community to verify that this behavior was normal. What happens is when your Chromebook connects to a wi-fi network it simultaneously connects to the Verizon 3G network. My first thought was that this would cause conflicts, but I was told it's a feature so that if your wi-fi goes down you can keep working and prevent data loss. You can disconnect from either network manually in the network settings, or you can disable the wi-fi or 3G altogether. however, when I close the lid on my Chromebook and then wake it back up, it will automatically try to reconnect to Verizon even if I manually disconnected it from the network. I don't think this is impossible to live with, I just think that I would have liked the network settings to work a bit more independently and I'd like it if it remembered that I disconnected a network before it went to sleep.

Some other things I don't particularly care for are the weak internal speakers. I knew they were weak when I bought the machine so I don't feel deceived, and the Series 5 is not intended to be a full multimedia powerhouse. I prefer listening to music and movies on headphones anyway so it's not a big deal. Likewise, I kinda wish the keyboard was back-lit, but again at this price point I don't feel it's a problem. I do wish they would have designed the power cable a bit better. The cable and "brick" are nice and slim, but the plug that goes into the machine is very, very small (not Motorola Xoom small, but small...) which makes me paranoid that I might bend or break it accidentally. My old Samsung netbook had a similar sized cable and brick, but the plug was full (normal?) sized. Not sure why Samsung went with the smaller plug, perhaps with the great battery life they figured people wouldn't be lugging it around with them every day.

As far as Chrome OS goes, I only have a couple of niggles. Performance was sluggish on some Flash-intensive websites, and the file manager was too basic in my opinion. One great thing about Chrome OS is how fast updates are released, and in the three weeks I've had my new Chromebook I already downloaded an update that drastically improved Flash performance and added several new and welcome features to the file manager. The OS will continue to get better, stronger, faster (like Steve Austin!) as time goes on. One thing I'd love to see in Chrome OS is USB printing support. Currently, you can't plug a printer into a Chromebook and print anything. Again, I knew this going in and I don't feel cheated. Google Cloud print allows you to print to a printer connected to any other computer on the Internet (like my Mac at home), but that computer has to be on, and you have to be logged in to your Chrome account with your Chrome browser open for it to work. There are allegedly some printers coming out that will be able to cloud print right out of the box, without a computer connected, via wi-fi or ethernet. There are many of us though that have to travel for work, and it would just be simpler to be able to go up to any brand name USB printer, plug in the device and print a document. I wish we lived in a paperless world, but unfortunately we don't yet...my company is proof positive of that.

Now that I've done my complaining, there are a few things I'd like to see others in the blogosphere quit complaining about when it comes to the Samsung Chromebook. For one, stop complaining about the lack of HDMI support. If it's that big of a deal to you, than you can get the Acer Chromebook which has an HDMI port. And although I just brought it up, stop complaining about the lack of USB printing support. I would like to see it, but I'm not complaining about it and I surely don't feel that I was deceived in some way or led to believe by Google that I could plug a printer into the device. Stop complaining about the price. At $450 with 3G connectivity, the Chromebook is a bargain when you consider that a 3G iPad will set you back at least $600, most Android smartphones list for $500 to $700 full price, and the MacBook Air will cost you at least $1100 and doesn't offer 3G connectivity. Finally, please, please stop complaining about the lack of off-line capability in Chromebooks. If you absolutely have to have a computer that will work without a network connection, then don't buy a Chromebook. It's that simple.

If, however, you are like me and find yourself always near wi-fi or in a Verizon 3G area, and the idea of a sleek, well built, lightweight machine that boots almost instantly and lasts all day on a charge sounds right up your alley, then go ahead and jump in. Chances are you're already living in the Cloud with your PC or Mac.

Why does CNET hate Google so much??

Google+ is now open to everyone!

So the big news today is that the Google+ project announced a group of new updates including update #100 which opens their social network to anyone and everyone, no invite required. As an active Google+ user, this was great news to me since I now am hopeful that more of my friends and acquaintances will give G+ a try.

But apparently not everyone thinks this is good news. Over at cnet.com their headline reads "Google opens its social network to all," which is followed underneath by two other links that say "Do you want another social site?" and "The minuses of the +". Really, CNET? Really?

This is the second time I have questioned CNET's objectivity...the first is what I feel is consistently biased reviews and negatively charged articles regarding Chromebooks and the Chrome OS. To be fair, they tend to be somewhat unbiased about Android...but they have to be considering Android's market share.

So what's up at CNET? Are some of them bitter because Google wouldn't hire them? Are they miffed because they didn't get a G+ invite? Are they upset that they didn't get a CR-48 Chromebook when the project started?

I have started notes on a blog post about Google+, the idea for that post came up many days ago before the big news today. I will save my thoughts on G+ for that post. I'm also planning a full product review of my Samsung Chromebook after I've had it a month, so keep an eye out for that.

In the meantime, my friends, I urge you to continue to be open minded and give Google+ a try if you haven't already. I also encourage anyone who's genuinely happier using Facebook to continue to do so.  I also urge you to question what you read online and be on the lookout for bias and opinions that aren't grounded in sound logic. As for me, I've decided I'm officially done reading articles on CNET. There are plenty of other sources on the Interwebs [sic] where I can get timely, unbiased, and level-headed tech news and reviews.

Keurig Platinum: Geeky Techno Coffee bliss

Geeks and caffeine go hand in hand, and my weapon of choice to blast away drowsiness has always been coffee. I've been around coffee, in all it's varied forms, my whole life. The aroma of coffee brewing was always the first thing I smelled when waking up as a kid. It kept me awake when cramming for finals in high school, and when working midnight shifts in the military. I like many different varieties, even your run of the mill Folgers and Maxwell House...as long as it's plenty strong and very fresh.

I've had my share of good (and bad) coffee makers over the years. The last one was a Cuisinart that was very, very good. One thing always bugged me though; since I'm usually the only one in the house drinking coffee I always seemed to be wasting a lot of it. I'd brew either 6 or 8 cups, have a mug or sometimes two, then the rest would go down the sink. Short term, not that big of a deal. Long term, it adds up.

Earlier this year a friend introduced me to the Keurig system, and two months ago I bought their Platinum brewer. The Keurig system uses what the manufacturer calls K-cups to brew coffee one cup at a time...one K-cup makes one cup of coffee. After you brew a cup, you throw the K-cup away. There is an accessory filter you can purchase that will let you use your own bulk coffee with this machine, but the whole point is the convenience and freshness...going away from the K-cup would negate these benefits in my opinion. This brewer has a 60 ounce water reservoir and is fully programmable and will brew a choice of 5 cup sizes ranging from 4 to 12 ounces. You can also buy other K-cup beverages for use in this machine, such as tea and hot chocolate (my son's favorite).

Beam up my coffee, Scotty!

After two months of use, I am very happy with the Keurig. The per cup price is higher than the per cup price using bulk coffee, but there's no waste so over the long run I believe I will be better off or break even. If you compare the per cup cost to say, a cup of coffee at a trendy coffee shop, then it's very economical. The individually sealed K-cups mean that the coffee is always fresh, and means you can keep a variety of different blends and flavors on hand without having the flavors you rarely use go stale. It also means I can have a cup whenever I want without having to brew a whole pot. The technology works very well, the LCD display is easy to read and the menus are easy to understand. The blue lighting is pretty intense and reminds me of something your might find in a J.J. Abrams Star Trek production. The LEDs beneath the water reservoir also have another unique function: They will blink on and off when the water in the tank gets too low. Although some might find this annoying, I think it's a great idea as it's much easier to see from across the room than the small text on the LCD. And besides, wouldn't it be more annoying to go back for your second cup and find that your brewer's not ready?

So, whether you're a drowsy Geek looking for a jolt while you knock out that last few lines of code, or just a coffee lover who adores convenience, the Keurig Platinum brewer is a fantastic machine. At $179 it isn't cheap, but it makes great coffee with single serve convenience. This is just one of the many different machines Keurig sells on their website and in select retail stores. With over 200 varieties of coffee, tea, hot cocoa and iced beverages there is bound to be a K-cup flavor that you'll love. Oh, and Dunkin Donuts just started selling their different coffee varieties as K-cups, which is icing on the proverbial cake for me.

My Chrome experiment terminated...

It's just a day away...

I didn't even make it a week. What started as my Chrome Experiment, where I was going to attempt for two weeks to only use the Chrome browser and cloud services for all my computing needs to see if I was a good candidate for a Chromebook, came screeching to a halt today when I ordered a Samsung Series 5 Chromebook with 3G from Amazon.com...I know, I know...not very scientific but allow me to explain.

To put it bluntly, I found it ridiculously easy to use just the Chrome browser and cloud services for my day to day, non-work-related, computing needs. The only time I thought I ran into an issue was when I wanted to load the images of my Motorola Xoom onto Craigslist. I used the card reader on my iMac...the Chromebook has one as well so I thought it a good simulation...and uploaded the images to Picasa. On the Craigslist website it didn't give me an option to use a URL for the photos, so I was thinking "damn, I've got to download them and then upload them." Then I came to my senses and just uploaded them directly to Craigslist direct from the SD card. I think you can do this with a Chromebook, but I don't sell on Craigslist very often so it's not a deal breaker.

That's it, that's the only thing that has been remotely an issue. What made me pull the trigger was the positive reviews from current Chromebook users and the great community over at Chromebook Central. The more I read about their Chromebook experiences the more I realized that the Chromebook was in fact what I had hoped my Xoom tablet would be. Ultimately, I guess I thought that Android 3.2 would be different enough from the version on my phone that I would have some greater capability and features. The things I really like about it...quick boot/quick wake from sleep and long battery life...I will now have in my Chromebook. I will also have 3G coverage in a pinch, something I didn't have with my Xoom.

The other thing that made me pull the trigger was my trip to Best Buy on Labor day. I wanted to see for myself what so many Chromebook critics were claiming...I wanted to see what kind of laptop I could buy for $450 at Best Buy. To be fair, they had some pretty good deals going...such as the 15.6" Samsung laptop with an i3 processor for $380. But most of the laptops they had in that price range were all larger and heavier than the Samsung Chromebook and had no where near the 8.5 hour battery life. And they were all running Windows 7...a great improvement over Vista but still a pain at times to deal with (anti-virus software, system updates, hard drive defrags, etc.).

So, my new Chromebook will be delivered tomorrow. As with any new gadget, I'm looking forward to getting to know my new Chromebook and how it meets my needs. I honestly believe I will be much more happy with it than with my Xoom. Perhaps I shouldn't declare my Chrome Experiment dead...or even concluded. Maybe I should think of this as Phase 2 of my Chrome Experiment...more to come.