The ScooterBlog

How about a digg spree to get your Saturday started off right!

There’s a new preview of a customizeable startpage called Pageflakes, a web site that’s capable of following comments on major sites for you, a ruling from Indiana that online comments are protected free speech (curses! I do still think the threats posted here a year back step a boundary.) …

… A list of 10 Firefox extensions to avoid (be warned, some of the extensions are good for us, bas for web sites, so take with a grain of salt), a story reminding us of how prevalent AAC is now for music files, some dude who got a FireFox bank card (sweet!), a story on three file conversion sites (seems a bit low), CrunchGear helping you host the best LAN party on the block, LifeHacker’s best posts of the week, and getting free books on your PDA or Cell Phone (or in my case, both)

Quick hits. Some handy tools in there, worth checking ‘em out.

So I was going through my tabs in Firefox and I realized something …. I have a ton of them open! Since I am not the kind to use bookmarks (at least not yet), or any kind of social bookmarking service (this would be why I blog instead), I thought I’d share them here:

• There are two music streaming services that I have read about, barely tried, but that are supposed to be pretty nice … MP3Tunes, and MediaMaster. The idea being, you upload your songs, or “sideload” them from existing websites, and stream them to wherever you are for listening. Both of these services are somewhat limited, but still, they offer a service that seems very cool to use. Whether or not it will be better then Avvenu Music Player, which I already use to stream songs to my JackBlack, we shall see.
• Since everyone wants to be like Hamachi … apparently there is a program called Leaf Networks which operates in a very strikingly similar manner. Also untested, wouldn’t mind someone taking the plunge.
• Why does everyone hate the RIAA (other than because they can)? Because sometimes, they can’t seem to get out of their own way. Nine Inch Nails put on a viral marketing campaign to get MP3 versions of songs from their new album … and the RIAA is trying to sue websites for posting the MP3 in question! The read is here, quite amusing stuff.

More later on!

You know, even for our standards, as people who are used to wacky things like major temperature shifts, a heavy shower of “partly cloudy”, and all of the quirks of the weather around here that make the Midwest special, this is admittedly a bit extreme.

On Tuesday afternoon, it was 80 degrees, sunny, shorts weather. By Thursday morning (36 hours later), it was 30 degrees and snowing!  Temperature changes and cold fronts, yes, we’re used to that, but this is one extreme case of it.

ExtremeTech is all about Vista with the two links I’m posting with this quick blurb. They have articles on both their 10 favorite widgets so far to use in the Sidebar (some of which really improve on the built-in varieties), and a guide on how to Speed Up Vista. Nothing earth shattering in this piece, but a good reminder of some basic things to go through.

Every time I see a program out there which deals in taking notes, it brings up one of two thoughts.

1) This is a great way for me to become more organized!

2) This is a great way for me to muck up what little organization I have with another program!

Both are valid thoughts. I’m not the most organized person anyways, so the idea of somehow subtracting clutter by adding complexity doesn’t necessarily jive.

For me, and due to using a Tablet PC, OneNote has been my solution to the problem so far. It lets me jot notes with the tablet pen, organize them, add voice memos to the mix, and do a lot of things that can help with bringing a lot of random data into one place.

Has it made me organized? Not really, but it’s better.

Another possible solution to the mess is something web oriented, like Google Notebook. This review talks about its new “Web 2.0″ type of look, and some of the features it has. Looks good, but I don’t know if for me personally, adding this online layer makes my life any easier and more organized.

Do you use a program like this? Let me know!

It’s been awhile since I have delved into emulation, mostly from a sense of time, and my computer falling behind in comparison to the machines being emulated these days.  A Core Duo gets you far, but a P4 2.4 really doesn’t anymore!

So when I saw the presence of a Dreamcast emulator that promises full speed, very few glitches, and decent compatibility, you can imagine my complete skepticisms as to whether it did what it was supposed to. It is right around April 1st after all.

But, the emulator is still there, no one is screaming of jokes, and apparently, it’s a good product. So, this is the call for testing … someone go get this Dreamcast emulator HERE, and read this news page which talks about it (forgive that it’s from Spain, it still seems to be the most comprehensive), and

There’s a couple of ways to get the BlackJack’s internet functions over to your PC … none of which are intuitive right off, but one is certainly easier than the other … Internet Sharing!

The link for this is buried way within the reaches of the Windows Smartphone .. but can be easily extracted by using the formula here. Then, run the program, hook up your USB cable, and nothing more to it!

There’s a nice blog here which talks about one of the Windows Mobile developers and their efforts to do similar things with a Motorola Q.

As if I was not already very knowledgable on the Windows Mobile product base, I feel like I can claim to be much more of an expert now.

Two weeks ago, I was a happy user of Cingular’s 8125 phone, what would now be a very entry level PDA phone, buyable for less than $100 with a plan. Enjoyed it, used most of the features (outside of media playing) and got a lot of use out of it, even used it for laptop tethering in many cases, USB and Bluetooth.

But now, it is not the standard Pocket PC phone that Cingular pushes. Now, it’s all about the “3G” (this is not a bad thing), and in comes an 8525. Similar in nature, although far more sleek with the black casing, it is faster, has broadband data speeds that 3G provides, still can be tethered (but more temperamental in Vista with Bluetooth), and has a 2.0 megapixel camera that is one of the finest I have ever seen in a camera.

Great phone. Found lots of uses for it, found myself using the connectivity more and more, and of all the phones I will talk about, it is the most feature rich.

But … the current rage at work has been the Blackjack smartphone, so I was game and figured I would give it a go, and while it has a couple of shortcomings, it is the phone I am going to stick with.

When they say it is super thin, they are not kidding! The phone is almost transparent in your pocket when you have the regular battery in, and barely noticeable with the extended battery on board, which only adds about an eighth of an inch to the phone’s thickness. The keyboard is made for one or two handed typing, and programs load very quickly and efficiently.

Messaging is at the heart of what the Blackjack (and the Smartphone genre in general) and it does not disappoint. Instant messaging with AOL, Windows Live, or Yahoo are readily available for free out of the box, while the Pocket PC struggles with this greatly. Sending that quick message or jotting the quick note with the available keyboard is nice to do. The integration with Exchange Server is just as solid as it is on a Pocket PC, except for the fact that you have limited ability to edit tasks.

This brings up the phone’s other shortcomings (all of which can be fixed if you have the needs). The battery life is very short .. in my experience, about 9 hours of constant use on the standard battery, and about 13 to 15 hours on the extended life battery. In other words, this or any other Smartphone is not for you if you can’t get yourself to power semi-frequently.

It has program limitations … you cannot sync notes with your Outlook PC (a $15 program fixes it), the previously mentioned task limitation (AgendaOne makes a $25 add-on that makes the scheduler STRONGER than it is on Pocket PC), and you cannot edit Office files (either buy Documents To Go for $30,  or wait for Windows Mobile 6, read down). As you can see, all fixable if you need them for a small price.

And, many of these will resolve when Windows Mobile 6 is released for the Blackjack, likely in July … Cingular made this official today. I am very thrilled with the new features WM6 brings to the table, and it will likely render many of my complaints moot.

I used to have a Sidekick 2 before I worked at Karlsberger, which I loved for its ability to handle e-mail, web browsing, basic task management, and calendar entries. The Blackjack feels like that phone, the Treo or Blackberry keyboard layout, and Exchange integration, all meshed into one, all things that I need in a phone right now, plus the speed the Sidekick could never dream of attaining (even with their current SK3 model, still just runs on EDGE).

Definitely a keeper … as long as I keep my charger in the bag!

Proof that things in life are not fair … I an currently in the car, on my JackBlack (as it will be called from here on out, sans my cell phone stories), not more than an HOUR from Detroit and Wrestlemania … and not there.

Instead, driving to take care of family matters, some understandable, some ridiculous, I will spare the blog readers from everything, because it would make you nuts too, but nonetheless, it was late entry stuff that kept us from attending Stephen’s WrestleMania party in Cincy tonight.

But, with broadband speeds in the car thanks to the JackBlack … I can at least always try and stay in the loop!

Did I mention that there’s times that I still can’t believe that Danielle now loves wrestling?!