Frank Ramblings

I’ve always been fascinated by photography. When I was younger, my dad would show me the photos he took when he traveled across Europe as a bachelor. I always admired his natural talent for framing and capturing the best shots. Growing up, I always respected good photography and tried to emulate it, albeit without much success. I always owned some kind of camera and would go through phases when all I wanted to do was take pictures. In the last few years, as digital photography has really come into its own, I’ve gotten to know some pretty amazing photographers, both professional and amateur. And now that everyone carries a camera in the form of a cell phone, we’re all photographers. But is this democratization of the artform necessarily a good thing?

(more…)

I say it to myself all the time. Each time, I know that the more I say it, the deeper I dig myself. And yet I keep going. I’m just not busy enough, apparently. Well, in the last couple of months I’ve been saying, “Sure, I can do that,” a lot more than ever before. As busy as that makes me, I’ve found that I actually enjoy diving head-first into a project and just giving it everything I’ve got. My most recent projects are two new podcasts. I know. Shocking.

Since December, I’ve been working with some friends on starting a network of audio dramas based on our favorite comic books. We call ourselves Thought Bubble Audio. Our debut project is a Superman/Batman tale based on the origins of Supergirl as told by Jeph Loeb and Michael Turner. It’s an awesome story and adapting it for audio has been a challenging but incredibly fun process. I’ve been blogging about it on our site, tracking our progress, and it continues to blow my mind that we’re actually doing something. Pre-production is just about wrapped up now and we’re beginning the daunting process of actually recording and producing what we hope will be an exciting and fun show. Check out the site and follow us on Twitter for updates and news about when we’ll be ready for release!

Another project I’ve been working on for the last several weeks is something I’ve been thinking about for quite some time: a tech podcast. My good friend Justin Vactor of the Geekland, Entertainment Overload, and Gotham Central podcasts joined forces with me to create Tech Ramblings: a show where we talk tech with our own fun spin. Justin and I have known each other for over a year now, and I’ve always considered him a very knowledgeable and capable podcaster. He produces very high quality shows, and it’s been a pleasure to work with him. We just have a great time talking 3 tech news issues each week, often giving our own opinions on what’s going on. It’s a rapid-fire snapshot of what’s going on in the tech industry from week to week. I look forward to recording with Justin every week and I hope you’ll look forward to hearing what we have to say!

On top of these new shows, I’m actually working on developing as many as 3 more, if everything works out. If everything comes together to make these shows happen, I’ll be podcasting with some very cool friends who I’ve been looking forward to working with for a while now. Things are about to get crazy over here and I’m dying to get into it all. I’ll be trying out some new things I’ve never done before. Sure, my life as a student, intern, and employee already keep me busy, but these projects make it all seem worth it. They keep me sane and give me something to look forward to. So here’s to more podcasting!

Almost three years ago, Apple really gave the smartphone market a jumpstart with the iPhone. Since then, the iPhone has completely changed the public’s idea of a smartphone. Long gone are the days of the Treo. In the last year, Google has thrown their hat into the ring with their Android operating system. First there was the Android G1, and then more recently the Droid, with some less noteworthy phones in between. Earlier this week, the first Google-branded phone was unveiled: the Nexus One. This phone is available “unlocked,” which means that you can buy it directly from Google and use it with your existing cell plan (though it’s not available on all carriers), or you can buy the phone at a lower price with a contract from your cell provider. The big question on everyone’s mind is whether Android can be an “iPhone killer.” Many thought the Palm Pre would be the phone to slow Apple’s iPhone momentum, but six months after its release, it seems the Pre was nothing but a blip on the tech radar. In the last few months, especially since the release of the Droid and Android version 2.0, Google has begun gaining a lot of ground in the battle.

But hold on a minute, haven’t we seen this story somewhere before? Think about it. In one corner, we have Apple developing not just the OS, but the phone hardware to go with it. And in the other corner, there’s Google, who is developing the OS and making it available to any manufacturer willing to license it. (Yes, the Nexus One is Google-branded, but it is actually manufactured by HTC for Google.) To me, this seems awfully similar to the Mac vs. PC debate. Apple makes both Macintosh hardware and the Mac OS, while Microsoft only makes Windows (and other software) and licenses it out to manufacturers. In the case of Mac/PC, there is arguably no real winner. Windows enjoys greater market share at a lower price point, but Apple offers a more aesthetically pleasing environment and better customer support. Apple was out of the game for a good portion of the 1990s, but since Steve Jobs’s return, the company has been on a giant upswing. Many Windows users are making the jump to Mac because to them, the ease of use and quality of Apple products outweighs the (outrageous) price tag.

So in the smartphone scenario, does Google represent Microsoft and Apple represents… Apple? You could certainly make that argument. But who will win? That’s a little more difficult to answer. Though the iPhone is widely considered the best phone on the market, there have been a number of complaints about the closed nature of the App Store. Apple has a very strict, yet at times seemingly arbitrary approval process for apps that are submitted to their store. Speaking as someone who actually has an app in the App Store, I can tell you that the process can be pretty bumpy, and sometimes things are rejected for no reason whatsoever, and then accepted when resubmitted without revision. So apparently, depending on whether or not Apple’s App approvers had a good sandwich for lunch, the same app might be rejected on Monday and then approved on Tuesday. That’s very discouraging for developers looking to monetize. If a company dedicates resources to developing an app, only to have that app rejected by Apple at the last minute because the approver has a headache, they would be better off saving their money and not developing the app in the first place. Android, on the other hand, is an open platform in nature. It’s one of many flavors of Linux, the free, open-source operating system. While there is an Android Market for apps, users can get apps from anywhere, even from the developer’s website. Also, updates are available directly from the app developer. So once you’ve downloaded an app to your Android phone, you can get updates whenever they are released by the developer. Apple requires that updates be submitted for approval before they are distributed to users. Again, developers fear that updates might be rejected. Plus, the fact that Android offers seamless Google Voice integration while the iPhone offers none at all could be a real turn-off to some people. I know it’s a factor I would consider.

However, things aren’t perfect in Androidland, either. While the openness of the platform allows for lots of great apps, it also allows for terrible ones. Apple exercises some level of quality control over the apps it approves. Google makes it easy for anyone to develop and distribute an app, regardless of how good or bad it is. In addition to this, different Android phones have different capabilities. For instance, the G1 doesn’t have multi-touch capabilities, but the Droid does. How is a developer supposed to deal with something like that? iPhone developers deal with a more-or-less level playing field. Most apps work on all iPhone and iPod Touch models because Apple controls the hardware. But Android developers have to deal with many different handsets running different versions of the Android software. People like Alex Lindsay would rather stick to iPhone development because they know their software will run on all of the hardware it was designed for.

Still, there is something to be said for hardware options. When you get an iPhone, you only have a choice between the 3G or the faster 3GS. And you’re stuck with AT&T. When you opt for an Android phone, you have a wide range of options before you. The Droid offers both an on-screen keyboard as well as a physical one, but the Droid Eris only has the on-screen one. Some phones offer multi-touch, others don’t. You can pick the phone that’s right for you, on the network that works best for you, whether it’s AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, or Sprint.

I’ve wanted an iPhone since the day it was announced, but I just can’t afford a data plan right now. On the other hand, I wasn’t really excited about Android at first, but the increase in positive feedback since the Droid’s release has me very interested now, especially in the Eris and Nexus One, though again I wouldn’t be able to afford the data plan. While Apple has a bigger App Store, I think Android’s open nature could allow for all sorts of apps that Apple would never approve under the current model. I expect Android will continue to grow as a greater variety of phones running the platform become available. It might even dominate the smartphone market for some time. But I’m sure Apple has something up its sleeve with the next iPhone model, whatever it may be. And eventually, just as many people are abandoning their Windows PCs for Macs, I think we might see Android fall out of favor in a couple of years as the public turns back to Apple. But we shall see. The smartphone is still in its early stages. This week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, many new Android models will undoubtedly be introduced. How successful they will be is still a mystery. The really interesting discussions will come about a year from now when significant hardware and software modifications have been made to both iPhones and Android phones and few ideas have been shared (or stolen). At that time, we’ll have a much clearer picture of the better phone. Right now, I’m just glad to see that Apple finally has some serious competition in the smartphone market and I will eagerly and attentively continue to watch how the battle unfolds.

In Life After the 30-Second Spot, author Joseph Jaffe states clearly and repeatedly that the 30-second television ad is a dying element of years gone by. He seeks to offer methods that businesses can use to invigorate their brand names by using new media alternatives to traditional advertising. Jaffe lists 10 Tenets for Marketing to a New Consumer and he offers 10 approaches that he says are changing the face of advertising and marketing. His overall premise is that the 30-second TV spot is dead, and that advertisers need to face reality and make effective use of new media alternatives if they are to succeed in the high-tech future that is already beginning to assert itself. He makes some valid points, as well as a few that have already been disproven in the short time since the book was written. Nevertheless, his ideas are thought provoking and I found myself agreeing with much of what he had to say.

(more…)

A few months ago, I reviewed Windows 7 here. At the time, I was using the Beta version. Since then, I’ve upgraded to the full version that was officially released two weeks ago. I’m happy to say I’ve posted an updated review over at YuBlog.org, a great blog dedicated to user-submitted content. I hope to continue submitting articles there in the future. You can read the article here. Leave comments!

Until about a year ago, I was staunchly anti-iPod. I thought Apple’s super-dominant portable media player had some good points, but overall I felt like it was meant for non-geek consumers who just wanted a small device that would play their music and a few videos without requiring too much tech knowledge. To me, that meant a less powerful device that would limit me too much. So I turned to Creative Labs for my PMP. The Creative Zen Vision: M is an answer to the iPod Video. It plays MP3s, WMAs, WAVs, and a plethora of video formats that the iPod still doesn’t even approach.

Though I’m now a huge fan of my iPod Touch, I still turn to the Zen from time to time for its superior compatibility, especially with video. I could buy the video output equipment for my Touch, but I don’t really see a reason to do so when I already have the Zen Video Cable, which conveniently plugs right into the dongle already included with the player for USB and AC power. It might be old and sluggish by today’s standards, but with a 60gb hard drive, my Zen serves as a more portable Apple TV of sorts. I can load almost any video format I want onto it and watch it on my TV. It’s also great for photo slideshows, and of course music. In fact, audiophiles won’t be surprised to hear that the Zen’s signal-to-noise ratio still puts the iPod to shame. Another small, but neat feature is the programmable wild card button that you can set to perform any function you want. I use it to play the entire music library on shuffle.

Sure, the Zen has its flaws too. The interface is a copy of the iPod Video interface, with the exception that it allows for custom wallpapers and a choice of color schemes. Also, instead of a click wheel, the Zen has a vertical-only touchpad. The Zen is pretty thick, about twice the thickness of a 30gb iPod Video, but if you just use it as a stay-at-home video player, as I now do, that won’t matter much at all.

All in all, I still love my Zen Vision: M, if not for its form factor and GUI, then for its compatibility with virtually all popular audio and video formats. I’ll continue to use it as my own version of an Apple TV until someone convinces me there’s something better for my needs, or until it stops working. Whichever comes first.

Not to make a big deal of it, but I’ve just realized that this is my 100th post. I set out to write a semi-regular blog and stick with it for as long as possible for a change. I’ve blogged before, but this is easily the longest-running blog I’ve ever maintained, and I’ve been far more interested in this project than in my previous attempts. I owe this mainly to the support I’ve gotten from readers who have commented here, on Twitter, and on Friendfeed, so thanks to all of you! I hope to keep this going for a long time to come.

Frequent readers of this site (I know, that implies I still post frequently, but just humor me here) will know that I am a Windows fanboy, particularly when it comes to Windows 7. Well a couple of weeks ago I actually did something that I would have thought unthinkable just a few months ago. I bought a Macbook. Sure, it was a lightly used one from a good friend, but it’s still a Mac!

I don’t have anything against Apple, in fact I love my iPod Touch and am looking to upgrade to an iPhone at the first realistic opportunity (it doesn’t look like that’s happening any time soon, but you can’t take my dreams away from me). Generally, though, I’m not a big Mac fan. I’ve always said that Windows makes sense to me and Mac doesn’t. Obviously that’s changed a little bit now that I’ve had easier access to a Mac, but overall I’m still a PC.

The whole reason I even thought to buy a Mac was for podcast production. I produce podcasts in both standard MP3 and Apple’s enhanced AAC formats. The best (but technically not the only) way to produce enhanced AAC podcasts is with Garageband, an application available only for Mac OS. I’ve always wanted a dedicated production machine anyway, so it made sense to use a Mac for that purpose. And I don’t regret it one bit. I love my Mac for podcasting. Garageband is simple yet powerful and it allows me to do just about everything I need. My only reservation is that I prefer Adobe Audition’s highly-customizable noise reduction engine to that of Garageband, but I’ve found a marginally annoying solution to that problem: I do all necessary noise reduction in Audacity before exporting the audio to Garageband for the final editing process.

But I have, of course, also used the Mac for everyday computing and compared it to Windows 7. I’ll admit that OS X is better than I had initially thought. Once I forced myself to learn the OS, it was actually much easier to pick up than it had been in my past attempts. I found some good apps for my everyday casual computing needs. Probably the best is Tweetie for Mac. Since I first tried it the week it was released, I’ve loved it enough to want a Windows version. Sadly the app’s creators atebits Software have said that they have no interest in developing Tweetie for Windows. That’s a real shame and a major lost opportunity, in my opinion, but I digress.

The worst experience I’ve had on my Mac is ironically and without a doubt Microsoft Office. It’s a nightmare! It takes a year to start up, but I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt and blame that on my single solitary, lonely little gigabyte of RAM for now. Once the dock icon decides to stop its infernal bouncing and Word actually starts up, it’s a complete mess. I can’t use it to save my life. It’s as if they took the Windows version, took it apart, and put it together again, except inside out. I hate it. A lot. I’m going to have to try OpenOffice (even though I hated that in Windows, but you never know) or use Google Docs as I’ve done on occasion in the past.

On a side note, I’ve been very happy with the Mac’s battery life. My Lenovo Thinkpad’s one-year-old battery gives me under 3 hours in the Windows 7 “Balanced” power setting, but I’ve been able to squeeze almost 5 hours out the Mac’s two-plus-year-old battery when I really try.

All in all, I’m happy with my Macbook, but I’m still a Windows guy at heart. I’m writing this post from my Thinkpad, but when I record my podcasts later this week, I’ll be using the Mac. And who knows? I’m not ruling Apple out anymore. They won me over with the iPod after a couple of years of resistance. Mac OS may win me over yet!

I’ve been podcasting like a fool lately. I really love the medium and I’m always looking for a chance to speak my mind on a range of topics, so it really shouldn’t be all that surprising, yet when I look at the hours I spend recording and editing podcasts, it is more than a little insane.

First and foremost, I’d like to announce the start of a new podcast hosted by friends William, Hunter, and myself: Lights, Camera, Podcast. As the title suggests, LCP is a movie podcast. Each week we have a great time making fun of each other while occasionally going into some movie talk, too. While that’s a bit of an exaggeration, we do discuss the biggest new releases we all had the chance to see, as well as any other films — both new and old — that we managed to catch at our leisure. It’s a ton of fun to record and we hope you’ll enjoy listening to it. Our first episode covering Star Trek is already available on iTunes, and a second episode about Terminator Salvation and a number of other films should be up soon.

Then of course there is my most consistent show Echo Alert. Though Dollhouse is off the air for the summer, Andrew and I are very excited about the confirmed Season 2 pickup and will continue the show on a bi-weekly basis through the summer until the show returns. We’ve got some fun stuff lined up including a couple of soon-to-be-announced contests, guest co-hosts, and some other possible goodies, so stay tuned!

I should also mention some guest spots I’ve been doing lately. Both happen to be related to the world of comic books. At the end of each month, I host a segment of the Geekland Podcast entitled This Month in Superman. It’s my chance to spend a few minutes gushing on events occurring in the Superman family of comics. My most recent segment appears in episode 85. In addition to that, just last night I was asked by my friend William (also of LCP) to step in and co-host this week’s episode of Between the Panels, his own comics podcast. It was unexpected and last-minute, but I was really glad I did it, because I had a ton of fun talking comics with him. That episode (number 12) should be out within the next week.

Finally, there is the project nearest and dearest to my heart, FMF. It was my very first podcasting foray, and I’m proud to continue DJ-ing to this day. It’s always a blast when I get a chance to sit down and record an episode, even though I don’t always get a chance to do that as often as I’d like to. I look forward to keeping the show up for the foreseeable future going forward.

So as you can see, I’ve been very busy lately. At least that new equipment I recently purchased is being put to good use. Now I just need to strike it rich and get my own place with a dedicated podcasting studio. What?

Everyone has his or her operating system preference. I like Windows. I like the customization and technical aspects. I like to take things apart and see how they work. Windows just works for me. I understand it and I’m able to produce results with it. I think Macs are great for certain people, but they’re just not my thing. The Mac OS is counter intuitive to me. I can use it, but I work much better with Windows. I just wanted to get that out of the way before the Apple fanboys show up at my door burning torches, brandishing knives, and threatening to hang me. I don’t hate Apple; I love my iPod Touch. I just think everyone has something that works for them.

If you’ll remember, I reviewed Vista a few months back when I first partitioned my hard drive and installed it. Well, I’ve done it again, this time with Windows 7. I wanted to give it a spin ever since I heard the beta had leaked on to Bit Torrent, even before Microsoft made it publicly available. The only thing stopping me was getting rid of my Windows XP partition. I still wanted to keep that around for emergencies. At the suggestion of some Twitter followers, I installed a copy of Norton Ghost and backed up my XP installation to my external drive and installed Windows 7 Build 7068 x64 over it.

I was impressed right away. First, I noticed that it booted up noticeably faster than other freshly-installed OSs. Once it was booted up, the first order of business was to see what all the “new taskbar” buzz was about. I didn’t think I’d like having a bigger taskbar take up a larger portion of my 14-inch screen, but I actually don’t mind it. In fact, when I opted to use smaller icons, I found that I was less productive. The main attraction of the new taskbar is a slew of new mouse-over functions. It operates a bit more like the OS X Dock, but it still maintains a distinctly Windows character. A single icon not only opens an application, it also serves to minimize or maximize that window from the taskbar. Placing the mouse cursor over an icon for a minimized application brings up a thumbnail for each minimized window of that application. While this function existed to a certain extent in Vista, Windows 7 improves on it by allowing you to click a thumbnail to bring up the corresponding window. In addition to this is a new preview capability. If you place the mouse cursor over a thumbnail, a full-size preview of the appropriate window will pop up. Move the mouse away and the preview disappears. This is extremely useful when dealing with multiple instances of an application such as Word or Adobe Acrobat. In Internet Explorer 8 (I know, I hate IE too), each individual tab gets its own mouse-over preview. Other browsers don’t have this capability yet, but I imagine that when the final release of Windows 7 ships, Firefox and most others will probably add it.

The overall look of 7 is very crisp and clean. It’s very pleasing to the eyes. The notification area (you know, those annoying icons down there by the clock?) is much improved. For starters, all the Windows-native notification icons are white. It may not sound like a big change, but you’ll be surprised how much less distracting it is. Microsoft is finally listening to the outcries of Windows users everywhere. They’re giving us an operating system that is simpler to use and stays out of our way. It makes everyday computing a breeze.

Now one of the biggest grievances had with Vista was User Account Control (UAC). The constant pop-ups asking me if I was sure I wanted to go forward with every single action got old fast. The only way to be productive was to turn off UAC all together, obviously a less-than-desirable solution. But that was then and this is now. In 7, there are more degrees of UAC customization. You can decide exactly how much control UAC will have over your system. Personally, I prefer to have as few notifications as possible, so I set it to the lowest level possible without turning it off completely. I know what I’m doing. I don’t need to be asked if I’m sure I want to install iTunes or AIM or any other perfectly harmless application. Since I finished going through the initial phase of installing the programs I use most and setting things up to my liking, I haven’t seen a single warning message. And that’s exactly how it should be.

Basically, Windows 7 is everything I wanted in a new operating system and more. At first trial, 7 feels the same as any version of Windows. But after a few minutes, you start to realize that it’s just working the way you want it too. It doesn’t freeze. It doesn’t have driver issues. It doesn’t crash. I’ve yet to hear of a Blue Screen of Death in 7. The first release candidate (Build 7100 for those in the know) goes public today and I fully intend to install it as soon as I have a chance. The version I’m running now (Build 7068) is near perfect; I can’t imagine how much better 7100 could possibly be. If you’re interested at all, Build 7100 will be available for download directly from Microsoft from May 5 (today) through June and won’t expire until June 2010. That’s a whole year to test out Windows 7 legally and for free. How can you possibly beat that?