Category: Companies

  • Solving Tivo download issues

    I’ve tried a variety of programs to get TV shows off our Tivo and onto my iPod, mainly so the kids can watch some of their favorites while traveling. The Tivo, which sits in our bedroom far from the nearest wireless access point, was connected to the Internet and our home net via a Netgear…

  • It’s Lightroom by a full length over Aperture

    (Updated 6/21) Some time last year, I can’t say exactly when, I crossed a threshold with Apple’s iPhoto software. The program had already slipped from the “greatest thing since sliced bread” category down a few notches to just “really useful” as my growing photo collection had slowed basic operations and made the program’s tagging deficiencies…

  • Mighty mouse, today you are so…not mighty

    I’ve been loving Apple’s wireless keyboard and mouse that came with my 24″ iMac. Lean back in my chair, scrounge around the room, pick one up, put it down — never lost a connection. And they even work great to wake the iMac up from a snooze, which I had thought would be the Achilles…

  • Bye bye Shuttle XPC

    Well, good bye Shuttle XPC. We hardly knew you. Thanks to an emergency computer situation at my mom’s, Shuttle XPC had to go over and run TurboTax (which requires at least W2K now). The installer was giving my mom an error message that it didn’t support Windows 98. I kept saying try it again —…

  • Google Earth is showing post-Katrina damage

    Amidst a debate over what’s what with Google Earth’s view of New Orleans, here’s what the program is showing right now: My post is reacting to some comments on Dave Winer’s blog that missed the message of a Google blog post on the subject and made it sound as though pre-Katrina imagery was still in…

  • He marched in the animals, two by two

    …And he called out as they came through Hey Lord, I’ve got green alligators and long-necked geese Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees Some cats and rats and elephants, but Lord, I’m so forlorn I just can’t find no unicorns. Ah, the Irish Rovers and The Unicorn Song. Brings back fond memories of rainy…

  • Sprint USB Modem Smacks Down Verizon

    (Updated 3/28) As I mentioned the other day, I just passed my two year anniversary as a customer of Verizon’s wireless broadband service. I decided to try Sprint’s competing service since it costs $20 less a month (I can’t add a voice line to the same account). Well, the Sprint Novatel Ovation U720 modem arrived…

  • Time for Sprint v. Verizon for mobile net needs

    Well, it seems like only yesterday I was signing up for Verizon’s mobile broadband service with a Novatel v620 PC Card modem at $79.99 a month. But it’s been two years and in the world of cell phone contracts, two is the magic number. I’m free to consider the competition. Why bother? For one, Verizon…

  • Tivo-Amazon link is cool but what’s the value?

    Amazon and Tivo unveiled their joint downloadable video service today. The basic concept is you purchase video content on Amazon’s Unbox service and it automatically downloads onto your home Tivo, where it appears on your “Now Playing” list alongside shows you recorded yourself. It’s obviously yet another way to get downloaded content from the Internet…

  • Canon’s new hybrid camera: umm, wow?

    (Updated with further reports) Canon unveiled a hybrid still photo/video camera today at such a low price point ($500 manufacturer recommended) with such an insane feature set (7.1 megapixel camera plus high definition video recording and image stabilization) that it almost defies belief. The new Powershot TX-1 has a lot of smart features, from obvious…