Here is a great post about the 5 things to NOT do when beginning at PaperBackSwap.com. I can say that it’s a pretty darn good list.
Roku player adds Amazon’s video on demand! Very cool
I can’t say I’ve really found the Kindle all that enticing yet, but here’s a review of it’s 2nd generation.
I don’t know — I guess I’d prefer a book or a newspaper, and in the other cases I’m content reading on my computer or BlackBerry.
As I talked about on Wednesday, I am generally pleased with the TomTom One XL. As with anything, it isn’t without it’s faults and shortcomings and I wanted to bring some of these to light.
- Unlike other TomTom devices that came out around the same time, you cannot use the One XL as a bluetooth speakerphone with your other phone. This bothers me a little less since it wasn’t something I was going for, and my phone has its own speakerphone capabilities, but it would have been nice for them to make this (seemingly simple) available on the device. Namely because the speaker in the device is of fairly good quality and I think it would have been a better speakerphone experience than the one built into the phone.
- The bluetooth connection can be a hassle. No one wants to work at getting the device to talk to your phone at the expense of being on their way, yet sometimes that seems to be what you have to do if you want to, say, get a traffic update before you head home from work in rush hour. Fortunately I’ve found a method that usually works, consisting of (after making sure bluetooth is enabled on your phone) disabling and re-enabling traffic. Also, make sure that if you are in a place where wifi is present, turn that off before trying to re-enable traffic. Also make sure you have a solid cell phone signal.
- There are several threads and posts out there referring to this, but occassionally my device has gone into a reboot mode. When trying to turn it off, it simply restarts. After a while of turning it off, eventually it might stay off. Other times I’ve had to plug it into the computer and run a disk check. There is even a flash clearining app available from the TomTom site, but that hasn’t seemed to be my issue. After this happened several times, I think I have figured out the cause and I haven’t had it happen since. The common denominator was automatic traffic updates versus me using my phone for a call. It seems that after trying so hard to get traffic updates (and I’m guessing my phone won’t dig for the data when I’m in a voice call) it flakes out and reboots. The way I’ve worked around this is to resort to manual updates when I am not using the phone. For most rides I only get the traffic update when I first start. The rides are short enough that not a lot is going to change in 20-30 minutes. For longer rides I might hit “update” when I am stopped at a light. This way I could get re-routed if the situation has changed dramatically since I began the commute.
- Traffic can be buggy. It seems that there are certain areas it will always try to route you around, even though it is probably the fastest way to get there. Sometimes, when you have time, you should verify those kinds of routes (when you think you know a faster way and it will never route you through). I tend to believe it when it sends me a certain way 3 or 4 out of 5 trips but routes me a different way the other time or two. That tells me that it is basing it on a significant traffic incident.
Here are four things that I have found in my short time with the device that I think are a little disappointing. I’m sure there will be more, as well as more reasons to love the device. One thing I do not love is the customer service from TomTom, and I will address that in my next post on this topic.
Tags: Bluetooth, Flaws, TomTom One XL, traffic
This Christmas I received my first GPS device and found that it really is life-altering (at least to some degree). I have to admit that I once didn’t understand what the fuss was all about. I had Google Maps, like everyone else, and I could get perfect directions to anywhere I wanted to go. I thought the devices were mainly for tracking where you went, and I really wasn’t in to that. I was wrong on both accounts.
I was shocked to see how accurate the device was in determining how close I was to the next street. I couldn’t believe the device could tell how fast I was going. Even more, I couldn’t believe that when I plugged in the destination, it didn’t matter what turns I took it would re-build the route and adjust as I went.
Specifically, the TomTom One XL is great because it is just that — XL. I love the huge screen. Even though the screen is mounted on the windshield, I can see every bit of information very well and the large screen means large, easy to touch buttons (the controls are touch-screen).
I also love the bluetooth capabilities of the device, and that it can pull information down from my BlackBerry. I have been using the free trial of the traffic feature and I must say that it is pretty solid. It has re-routed me on a number of occassions based on traffic. It’s not without any setbacks, though, as it consistently routes me around a road that is always, every day, wide open. Somehow it is getting poor traffic info for that area, because without traffic enabled it will route me through the area.
I am fairly impressed with the estimated arrival time, too. I think it does particularly well if you are mostly on city roads. The wide variation in speed on the freeways can set it off as much as 5-10 minutes in a 15-mile drive (usually more like 3-5 minutes. But, still, I think that’s pretty good. TomTom claims that they are constantly averaging commutes (for the people who allow their device to communicate data back to them) to help make that time more accurate. I haven’t been able to tell if the traffic information affects the arrival time or not yet.
Coming up, I will talk about some of the shortcomings/flaws I see with the device, and later a poor experience with customer service (that I promised them I would blog about). All in all, as far as the device goes, I don’t think you can do much better.
Tags: BlackBerry, features, review, TomTom One XL
Getting Things Done - David Allen
In the last in this series of BlackBerry articles, I will explain how I organize my life in the BlackBerry. This is a new development for me but I have found it works great, especially because the functionality of the BlackBerry has all the key elements of organization. Also, I have to give credit for the organization method overall to David Allen and his book, “Getting Things Done.” He provides the concepts for which I applied to Outlook and the BlackBerry.
Things that pop into your head
The first thing Allen talks about in his book is getting things out of your head. He contends that people are at their best when they are able to focus on one thing at a time, particularly the more demanding the task is. He says that many people work less than optimally because they try to keep track of their life in their head. An endless loop is created of things you “can’t forget to do” and so all you can think about while you are trying to concentrate on a key task is that there might be something more important that you should be doing instead. That’s hardly the attitude when focusing on the task at hand. These things that pop into your head should quickly be entered as “tasks” in your Outlook/BlackBerry environment. You can then forget about them and continue on with what you are working on at the moment, and you can do so with complete confidence that you will later see the task you just set up and figure out what to do with it at that time.
I have a task list — now what?
I have found that it is best to build a habit of sorting out the tasks at the beginning or end of each day. I think the end works well for a good number of people because it allows for them to get anything that needs to go on the calendar on a little faster (possibly for the next day) and I think people can sleep better knowing they will have a trigger for everything they know they have to do (and thus an empty task list).
What are the triggers?
Now we know what to do with our random thoughts, and we know we are going to create triggers. How are we going to prioritize and put these triggers in the correct place? David Allen suggests everything fits into about five categories:
- Things you can do right now, in less than 2 minutes
- Things that need to happen at a specific time, or at least a specific date
- Things that can happen at the first block of extra time but have some contingency (like a phone, computer, or simply being in a specific location)
- Projects that are going to happen over time
- Things you might or might not do some day and should keep in mind in case there is a “right time” to do them
This is not directly taken from his book, but something derived from it that works well for me. The first category is a no-brainer. If you can get it done in two minutes right now, get it done and off of any list.
The second group of items there should go on your calendar. If it’s a meeting or something else that needs to happen at a specific time, place it on the calendar to block that time. If it doesn’t need to happen at a specific time but it does need to happen sometime that day, make it an “all day” event (and be sure to mark yourself “free” if you are in a corporate environment so that your entire day isn’t blocked off if people use your free/busy info to schedule meetings in Outlook). I used to put everything on the calendar at specific times, but I found that as soon as one thing with more priority than what was on my calendar showed up, my whole day was shot. Instead, put the list of those things that just need to happen sometime that day at the top of the day as “all day” events and knock them off one-by-one when you do have the gaps in your schedule. My way of operation is to delete them when I’m done with them. Some people might keep them for a record of when they performed the task. I will also use this spot to put reminders of things that are a ways out, but I want to be reminded of them at a certain time. A good example of this is when you find your favorite musician is going to be in town, but the tickets don’t go on sale for a month or two. A few days before the on-sale date I’ll put an all-day event at the top so that I can, at that point, check to see if I have the date of the concert free and also schedule the time the on-sale begins to make sure I get good tickets.
The third, fourth, and fifth groups will all go into “notes.” The third group — the items that have a contingency — will go into a note that specificies the contingency. For instance, I have notes titled “At any phone,” “At any computer,” “At Work,” and “At home,” just for a few examples. Anything that I can do at any phone goes in the “at any phone” list. So on and so forth. This way when you have gaps in your schedule and you don’t have anything at the top of the day on the calendar, you can go to whatever scenario you want and start knocking that list off. A lot of times if I am at a phone and a computer, I will opt for the computer because I can knock out phone calls while I’m sitting and waiting for lunch (on my cell phone). Usually the location-based tasks take precedent over either of those because I have a lot of computer and phone access. I think this is pretty self-explanatory.
The fourth group, projects, also uses notes. This time, though, I make a note for each project and name it “Project - Choose a new software vendor,” as an example, or “Project - convert all VHS tapes to DVD.” Inside the note I might list out all of the components of the project, as far as I know them, and then individual tasks to keep the projects moving will get moved into the other spots we have already discussed. The two-minute things — like email a vendor to inquire about a possible demo — you just do and delete it from the project note. The “need to happen at a specific time or day” items get on the calendar. The contingency-based tasks get placed in the corresponding note. Make sense? This way you are always keeping the tasks moving, but you have the bigger picture in its own note.
The fifth group’s items — the things you may or may not do some day — all get placed in one note. David Allen refers to this as the “someday, maybe” list.
Summary
If you implement this, you will notice that you are constantly going over the items in the first three lists because there are more than 2 minutes in a day, so you can take care of those, and you are always using your calendar and seeing the day- and time-specific items. You also will often be meeting one of the contingencies, so you will get a look at those items regularly. The fourth and fifth groups are something that can get lost in the shuffle with this method. This is where the idea of a weekly review comes in. It gives you a chance to go over all lists and make sure that there aren’t any that are becoming more urgent because they haven’t been taken care of. It’s a chance to get new project-related tasks in one of the other, more visible spots. Last, it’s a chance to consider if any of the “someday, maybe” items might apply to something else you are going to do. For instance, if you wanted to see a baseball game at the new Yankee Stadium and you are going to New York on business in August, that might be an optimal time to knock one of those things off the list (or at least find out that your schedule won’t allow for it that time).
All of these components are places readily available on your BlackBerry. You have the tasks for the things that pop into your head, you have the calendar for things that need to happen at a specific time or place, and you have the notes section to store the contingent tasks, project overview, and the list of things you might want to do or try some day. All of this organization can be kept on the little device you never go anywhere without, and that is the power of this organization method and your BlackBerry.
[Note: By no means is this comprehensive of David Allen's book, and I highly suggest reading it or listening to the audio book. It applies to everything you do, business and personal. My post is to maybe help use the BlackBerry as a way to organize your entire life, and this really would work with any device that had these necessary feature-set.]
BlackBerry Review Series: Introduction | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
Tags: BlackBerry, David Allen, Organization, Time Management
Next we’ll get into my five favorite (truly useful) BlackBerry applications. I say “truly useful” because I have downloaded a lot of apps that wound up on my “hide” list because I seemed to be passing over them most of the time. These are the apps that I have use for very often, some are “always on.”
This one is a no-brainer, but the benefits of this program if you are a regular Facebook user are huge. I love the push-messaging of Facebook notifications — that they generate a separate Facebook image in the status portion of the menu — to help you stay up to date on an additional method of receiving messages. (The BlackBerry might be the only reason I even try to keep up with my messaging, let alone why I can be somewhat successful). Facebook on the BlackBerry is also my time-waster application. Rather than rack up the bucks on the popular poker game, I tend to use my spare mobile time checking out what’s going on. I can go long periods of time where most of the Facebook time I have is mobile Facebook time.
Opera
The Opera browser isn’t one that I use daily but it’s still a must-have, namely for the times when you really want to have two web pages open (I’ll often keep the NHL scoreboard open on one while I browse in the other) or when you want to see the full-sized version of a web site. That isn’t always dependable, but it’s often your only hope for doing so, and the browser is simply built better for that. I would say that 95% of my BlackBerry browsing is done in the BlackBerry browser due to ease of use, and because the default links in email open up there, but it’s nice to have another option, especially for those times you want easy access to multiple sites.
Google Maps
Again, the perks of this program are obvious. Even as I now have my first GPS device, Google Maps comes in very handy when looking for broad categories of things close to you (ie. restaurants) and it can also when wanting to browse around a map. Google Maps is pretty comprehensive, while most GPS devices have most of the common destinations but not everything (and not quite as updated in that regard). The moral of the story here is that my BlackBerry couldn’t replace the functionality of my GPS, but neither can the GPS make Google Maps an unnecessary BlackBerry application.
Gmail
I am not one of those people who depends on the Gmail app and swears by it. I like all of my email to be in “push” style, where it all shows up under the big umbrella of the inbox and it all comes in when it comes in. Whenever I depend upon myself to check I have large gaps in between. Still, don’t be caught without this app. Every now and then the imap connection hiccups and you realize you should be getting more email. You can go into the app and see what is there and compare notes. The best feature, though, is the ability to search your Gmail inbox. The way I operate my BlackBerry inbox is to delete everything that I don’t need to act on from it. If there is critical info I might need on the road, I keep it until it’s not critical. Otherwise, it gets deleted. With the Gmail app, if the message was in Gmail, I am able to into the app and search for the message I am looking for. That is often a huge time-saver if not sometimes a lifesaver.
Google Talk
It is because of this application and only because of this app that I have officially converted my IMing to Google Talk. If people want to reach me, they can email, sms, call, or go to Google Talk. It was the first application I knew of that didn’t use SMS (and I don’t want to run up a million sms messages) and because of that it has become the one of choice. That, plus the fact that chat is built into the Gmail web app (the web app even has video!) has made this the most versatile and available IM client there is. This, too, is another great time-killer when sitting somewhere you can do nothing else. It’s also a lot of fun to chat with someone from the road (if you aren’t driving) or at a sporting event.
These are the five can’t-do-without BlackBerry applications I have installed. If you have any other suggestions, please let me know. I am always looking for #6.
BlackBerry Review Series: Introduction | Part 1 | Part 2
Tags: 5 must-have applications, BlackBerry, Facebook, Gmail, Google Maps, Google Talk, Opera
When updating AVG, if you get an invalid CTF file error, go to documents and settings\all users\application data\avg8\update\download and delete both files with the ctf extension. Do not delete all of the other files unless you want to re-download the updates. Then, run your update as planned.
I had this issue for a short while and realized that there was a bigger problem when my wife’s computer had the same issue. Easy fix.
Tags: AVG, error, Invalid CTF File, update, Version 8
The Roku Netflix Player was one of the best Christmas gifts I received this year, and I can only say “one of” because I got my first GPS device as well (though the two are apples and oranges). Here is a very brief summary of some of the facts and experiences I had.
Out of the box
The first thing a person will notice is that this thing is tiny. I would estimate the top-surface is about a tenth of your standard DVD/VCR combo unit, and it is probably about a third to a half of the height. The remote, too, is very small but very rugged.
Connection
You have the option of setting it up via ethernet or WiFi. Because we wanted to have the box on our upper level and our wireless modem is on the lower level, we went the WiFi route, and we haven’t had any performance issues. They do recommend a fast DSL or cable connection to be able to bring in the highest quality streams. We have the 7 mbps down/896 kbps up DSL connection and we are able to get the full quality stream.
The connection to the TV can either be the standard red, white, and yellow RCA connections, or an HDMI cable. You will also need an available power outlet.
Account
The first thing you will do when you get the device connected is activate it with your Netflix account. The whole process took less than five minutes and we were up and running on Christmas Day.
Adding Movies
In order to add movies to your online queue, you simply log into Netflix and click the “watch instantly” tab and browse movies that are available for streaming. Alternatively, you can browse movies like you normally would (for the standard procedure of getting discs) and any movie that has a “play now” button can be added to your online queue. As far as I can tell, so far, they do not limit the amount of movies you can add to that queue. It may be wise to keep it to a number that is manageable in terms of watching the movies, but it’s also nice to have a lot on the menu to choose from when you are already in your favorite chair and deciding what to watch. I’m sure there is a technical limit, but we currently have over 50 in our queue and haven’t reached it yet.
Quality
The quality is excellent. Only on rare occassions has the stream had to stop and re-buffer and that was likely due to other internet traffic in the house. At any one time we have 6 or 8 devices on the network (three computers that are almost always on, my BlackBerry, the Wii, the Roku, and a pocket PC or another laptop or two). For shows that were shot in HD, the stream is in HD (widescreen even). I’m thoroughly impressed with the quality and, in the end, it is often better than what we would get on disc. (We are not signed up for BluRay discs.)
Selection
For movies I can’t complain. It seems like there is plenty of new stuff up there, and between the device and the constant flow of discs coming in, we are never at a loss for something to watch. I would like if there was a little bit more television. My wife is big into movies, but I like the shorter bursts that the sitcoms provide. I wasn’t a watcher of The Office until I was able to get through the first four seasons on the Roku in a few weeks.
Summary
This is a great idea and a great product. The setup is amazingly easy, the use of the device is simple and extremely high quality, and it appears that there will be more content coming to it. The menu now shows Netflix as a sub-menu and has another “what’s new” option that says more streaming content will be coming to the box in early ‘09. Well, we are in early ‘09 and I am anxiously awaiting the new content. If you are a Netflix subscriber, you are wasting a huge part of your monthly subscription fee by not buying this box. No extra monthly fees — just the one-time cost of the box — and you have a wealth of content without the snail-mail delay.
Tags: Movie, Roku Netflix Player, Streaming, Television
Initial impressions are great, but as long as I am carrying around a larger-than-necessary (but still small) phone, why not figure out exactly what kinds of things I will always have at my disposal.
Orb
The first thing I had to try was watching streaming TV from Orb. Orb is an application that runs on a “server” (a dedicated, always-on desktop that meets the minimum requirements) and streams television, video files, audio files, and more via a web interface and a media player from anywhere in the world. It’s incredibly liberating to have access to what you have at home wherever you are, especially when away from home for an extended period of time. I will get more into detail with Orb in the future, but at the level it applies to the BlackBerry it is something like having a Slingbox. You pick a channel, it makes the change at your home, and then streams the video to you in Windows Media, Quicktime, Flash, or other formats.
I suspect that part of the reason the 8700g couldn’t handle Orb was because of it’s lack of processing power. The other part, I suspect, was due to the lack of Wifi support. The Curve, however, passed the test. On a reliable wireless network I am able to view streaming television without much of a problem and without many hiccups. I do not think that the BlackBerry Media Player renders the image quite as well as it could (it doesn’t even fill up the screen in full-screen mode), but it passes as a way to follow the big game (with audio) in a pinch. Over the cell network, it is not quite so reliable. I have been able to maintain a moving image for a fair amount of time as long as I was staying on the same “tower,” but the quality achieved is far less than what you will get over Wifi. The other thing I’ve found out is that if you back out of the stream, it will stop and you will need to re-initiate the stream. This is unfortunate when you receive a message and want to check it. This might be a lack of processing power, and it’s really a minor issue when you consider the added benefit of the device.
If you are an XM or Sirius subscriber, you can also set up the online offerings to work through Orb to be able to listen to your XM radio through Orb and on your BlackBerry Curve. Again, it works better over Wifi, but an audio-only stream is fairly reliable over the cell network, too, especially if you turn the stream quality down to a more manageable level.
It is also important to note the significant upgrade to a standard headphone jack (3.5mm) from the mini-plug some of the BlackBerries have. This allows you to watch or listen to the media in privacy with headphones.
[One technical note, for those of you who might have stumbled on this post for that reason: In order for this to work on your Curve, you will need to go to the orb web interface with the browser on the Curve and go into settings and then click "stream." You then need to set it to 3GP format (.sdp). A co-worker had it set to .asx and the media player could not handle the stream.]
Bluetooth
While Bluetooth is nothing new on cell phones, the only thing I wanted to mention about this was that I have been successful in getting the TomTom One XL to synchronize with it, namely to get traffic and weather updates. I had no such luck with the 8700g, and it was something I wanted to try out with my GPS device. I have had one particular issue with the TomTom as it relates to this, but the issue is surely a problem with that device and not the BlackBerry (and I will talk about then when I do an Everyday Joe review of the TomTom, itself. Needless to say, the traffic service is a valuable ability to have in terms of saving time commuting during rush hour. On several occassions I have been re-routed to encounter less delay time, particularly on my drive home, and the Curve is what enabled me to have this service.
Built in camera
Again, the camera is nothing terribly new to the cell phone. The added ability to take video with the phone is pretty nice, though I have not found a very practical need for this. The great thing about this device, though, is the ability to take a photo and quickly send it out via email or, better, upload it to Facebook. This is extremely fast if you are on wifi, and still quite usable over the cell network. It’s a lot of fun to be uploading photos from a sporting event or even while travelling. It makes your own experiences more interactive (with those who choose to participate).
Summary
These three features/abilities make the phone much more valuable as they turn a device you already have on your hip into a way to keep tabs on the big game or your favorite TV show, a data connection for GPS and other devices, as well as a way to share your experiences in a painless way.
BlackBerry Review Series: Introduction | Part 1
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