Category: gadgets and technology

This was actually driving me crazy to the point where I had to plug a cable in here at my desk… WiFi is definitely finicky regardless of position relative to my Airport when my Macs have no issue at any time.

Here are the symptoms of the problem: A Wi-Fi-enabled computer running Windows XP is working fine one minute, pulling up Web pages and processing e-mail. Then, for no reason, the connection drops, websites fail to come up and the e-mail flow stops. The small wireless connection icon in the taskbar says the signal from the access point is strong, so the problem isn’t that the user wandered out of radio range. The icon even shows that the computer’s Wi-Fi hardware is sending information to the access point — it’s just not getting anything back. And manual attempts to re-establish the connection through XP’s built-in wireless configuration tool won’t do the trick. Even more bizarre, the connection sometimes comes back on its own. [Wired News]

I just resolved what I thought was going to be a serious drive issue here at atmaspheric HQ. Yesterday, one of my external FireWire drives shut down killing my chain and delivering a blow to my backup system — not to mention my entire digital music library.

As I disconnected everything today to check it out, I discovered the drive would not start-up at all when connected to my powerbook by itself… That’s when I realized I should check the plug in the cable chaos below the desk… It’s all good. Turns out one of our cats must have nestled a bit too close to the plugs and disconnected it at the mid-section where the brick connects to the extension.

Seems the simplest answer was the reason for the failure. Power is after all a critical element in getting electronics to work.

I’ve noticed that my iPod (40GB 3G) does not really take a full charge while connected to my firewire hub at home… When I disconnect, it often has a reduced charge and generally runs for much less time (like my flight to San Fran last week) than when I leave it plugged directly in the wall where it seems to get a full charge and in fact gets to the point where it even says charged. I noticed a dramatic difference in the last trip — especially now that I am moving about with a PC without firewire and only plugging it into the wall.

I have no idea what causes the difference, but it’s real. Perhaps there’s some kind of silly safeguard on the battery though I am not sure how it would even know which way it was getting a charge…

Imagine the possibilities of getting wifi from over 50 miles away… whoa

Amateur engineering took a new turn on July 31, 2004, in the Nevada desert, as three teenage ham radio operators from Ohio took top honors in the 2nd Annual Defcon Wifi Shootout Contest. Held in conjunction with the annual Defcon convention, the contest seeks to discover who can achieve the greatest connected wireless network distance between two computers using the 802.11b Wireless Fidelity (Wifi) protocol.

Using two consumer-grade 32-milliwatt Orinoco Gold USB Wifi adapters mounted on the feed points of two surplus 9-1/2 foot satellite dishes, the team known as P.A.D. achieved a verified connect distance of 55.1 miles (88.67 kilometers), without the use of external amplification.

This surpasses previous records set in the unamplified class, including those of Canarias Wireless of Spain (70.5 kilometers) and Seattle Wireless (61.1 kilometers). [WiFi Shootout

Gizmodo points to one slick business messaging phone! I love the blackberry messaging built-in and can’t wait to see that show up on more devices. Speaking of which I am currently able to get around the blackberry-only IT support courtesy of T-Mobile’s mobile messaging which is somehow able to log-in and pull messages down for me in the mobile client of my choosing…But I digress.

Seimens has unveiled a very interesting phone design, aimed at business users, but certainly appealing to the IM- and SMS-heavy set. The SK65’s defining feature is a central swivel with reveals a QWERTY keyboard, made all the more appealing with the inclusion of Research in Motion’s Blackberry push email, making the unit a potentially very effective corporate communication device… [Gizmodo]

Coming up on a week of cross-platform usage and a few thoughts circling about regarding the differences…

I use a PC because I have to. I use a Mac because I want to.

I bring home the work laptop and as soon as my wife sees it she says – “That new work computer sure is ugly!” Pretty amazing considering when we met I had a PC, which was later sold (with resistance by her I might add) for the iMac she uses today.

The look and feel of a system is much more than I have probably ever realized. The PC has some nice things, though mainly details with how Outlook interacts with Exchange… I’m infinitely more comfortable using MS Office for Mac, reading on the screen is a pleasure as the LCD is so much easier on the eyes. The thinkpad does have a nice keyboard, but I am so totally accustomed to my Powerbook, which I still prefer.

My Mac just works… I had no idea (literally no idea) that you had to use a silly hexadecimal password to connect to some wireless networks. On my Mac, I just type in the password and it connects, for the PC, I had to look up what the translation to hexadecimal was and then key that in — twice! Apparently Apple took care of this when they wrote the Airport software…I wonder why no one else thought it was a good idea as well.

There are way too many annoying alerts down in the taskbar about various activities… I get it. I understand the icon changes… I don’t need little helper pop-ups getting in my way.

Guess that’s about it. I don’t hate or dislike working in windows as much as I really just love working on my Mac.

I’ve been watching some serious speed increases with my RoadRunner connection and loving it!!

2004-08-01 09:37:33 EST: 5489 / 391
Your download speed : 5621673 bps, or 5489 kbps.
A 686.2 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 400733 bps, or 391 kbps.

Over 5MB down !!

2004-07-31 10:36:54 EST: 1133 / 450
Your download speed : 1160888 bps, or 1133 kbps.
A 141.7 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 460839 bps, or 450 kbps.

2004-07-31 16:04:41 EST: 3705 / 479
Your download speed : 3794318 bps, or 3705 kbps.
A 463.1 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 490575 bps, or 479 kbps.

2004-07-31 23:16:49 EST: 4128 / 478
Your download speed : 4227174 bps, or 4128 kbps.
A 516 KB/sec transfer rate.
Your upload speed : 490208 bps, or 478 kbps.
Go Roadrunner, Go!

It’s been quite a few years since I drove to work, but I certainly recall the frustration of unexexpected and seemingly cause-less jams… seems we just suck at driving and that our cars will eventually handle the load for us through an adaptive cruise control.

A little more than a decade ago, scientists realized that vehicles behave like molecules in a gas. In the most notorious similarity, cars ahead of you that stop or merely slow down can cause a compression wave — a patch where the cars are jam-packed — to propagate backward until it reaches you. The wave can persist for hours after the initial bunch of cars hit their brakes, with the result that drivers who never saw that deceleration are totally clueless about why they aren’t moving. An estimated 75% of traffic jams are like this, having no visible cause. [WSJ.com (sub required)]

The cloud is coming…

City lampposts soon will light up cellphones and laptops as well as street corners.

Six telecommunications companies plan to fit about 18,000 lampposts around the city with cellular and high-speed Internet antennas as part of a franchise agreement worth up to $25 million a year to the city. [New York Post]

This is hardly a surprising move after Apple stiffed Real with the lack of unity on support for AAC, but amazing as well…

CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — Apple Computer Inc. said the company is “stunned” at a move by RealNetworks Inc. to distribute software that lets customers play music from Real’s song download store on Apple’s iPod.

Apple said it is investigating the implications of RealNetworks’ actions under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and other laws.

The company said it was “stunned that RealNetworks has adopted the tactics and ethics of a hacker to break into the iPod.”

Apple said it is highly likely that Real’s Harmony technology will cease to work with current and future iPods when the company updates the music player’s software. [The New York Times]

Nintendo has officially released the final images of the DS and it looks good – like something the big kids will want.

Nintendo DS, originally chosen as the code name, has been selected as the official product name. The Nintendo DS name evokes the idea of a portable system with “dual screens,” providing the rationale for the final name. The hardware also has been redesigned to sport a slimmer, sharper look. The retooled Nintendo DS features a thinner, black base and an angular platinum flip-top cover. The face buttons and shoulder buttons are larger, and some have been reconfigured for optimum use. The unit includes a new storage slot for the touch screens stylus, and the speakers now broadcast in stereo sound, with or without headphones. [Nintendo]

Nice piece on maintaining the dialogue… Six Apart and Microsoft are highlighted.

Companies are finding that small-scale Web publishing — blogging — reaps big benefits when it comes to customer feedback. Just ask Microsoft. [Wired News]

Thanks to a pointer at Gizmodo you can now make a Bottle Cap Tripod yourself… This is a great addition to the link I pointed out the other day (actually so did many sites) which enabled you to purchase one…

Have to hit the Hardware Store later and give this a shot!