Thoughtful Wheaten

Useful site on Electrician Training and Training to become a Licensed Electrician.

2011-05-15T16:47:00.002-04:00

A handy site for information on training to get licensed to be an electrician.

Happy New Year! Welcome 2009

2008-12-31T23:05:00.002-05:00

Welcome to 2009. Here's hoping health, prosperity and happiness in the New Years for you and yours. After a long 2008, its great to welcome a new year and open up to new opportunities. Best wishes for the new year!

Why mobile phone manufacturers need to copy the iPhone!

2008-02-24T10:46:00.002-05:00

An interesting experiment tonight drove home the point that Steve Jobs made with the introduction of the iPhone which was that the existing manufacturers of mobile phones need to wake up and improve their products.

I decided that I wanted to transfer a couple of files off my Blackberry Curve 8310 to my MacbookPro. Unfortunately, Macs and Blackberry's have never played terribly well together if you looks at the discussion forums at Crackberry.com you'll see numerous posts to this effect. To RIM's credit they have struck a deal with PocketMac to enable users to get a free copy of their software for synching Blackberry's with Mac's. Unfortunately this leaves Mac users behind in the software upgrade cycle since RIM's own desktop applications only run on Windows machines (obviously now with Bootcamp, Parrallels and VMWare we at least have the option of running the app. on an Intel Mac with a Windows install). However, personally I prefer to stick to OSX and would like to see RIM stepup to the plate and more aggressively support the Mac platform.

Regardless I opted to utilize the Bluetooth connectivity on my Curve to transfer files from my Mac. I was able to get the devices to pair and recognize each other. However the one thing that wasn't intuitively clear was how the Blackberry was to receive the file once I initiated the transfer on my Mac. To Steve Jobs' point most of the mobile handset operating systems out in the wild today aren't particularly user friendly or intuitive. Eventually, I was successful and must say that the file transfer was easy once you knew that you have to set the Curve to receive or send via Bluetooth. Maybe there was another option to enable it to automatically accept connections and files from my Mac but it wasn't exactly evident.

In comparing my use of the iPod Touch things operate very much the way you'd expect on a Mac and a user with a little exploring can easily maximize their use of the device. The iPhone has ushered in a new era along with the Touch not only in terms of a touch driven interface but in terms of a highly usable operating system. As we saw by the scrambling this year at the mobile industry tradeshow 3GSM the mobile handset vendors are in catch-up mode. It's interesting that in a 1.0 device Apple has been able to put all of these vendors on the defensive and forced them to face up to the fact that most of the user experiences on mobile devices pre-iPhone were plain awful. Let's hope that this intensified competition will kick-start vendors into actually spending on getting improved user experience for mobile users.

"The Jugger" by Richard Stark (aka Donald Westlake)

2008-02-17T19:26:00.006-05:00

Yet another in the Parker series of novels written by Donald Westlake under the pseudonym Richard Stark. The Jugger follows the story of former safe cracker ("a jugger") Joe Scheer is retired and living in a small mid-west town and remains the main conduit through which to reach Parker to setup a job. When Parker arrives he finds his friend Joe already deceased and Parker needs to dig into a mystery in order to save his cover life as Charles Wills. If you've read some of my previous posts on other Parker novels (see here, here and here) then you'll know that I find this series one of the more inventive concepts for a mystery series with an intriguing and unlikely hero in career criminal Parker. As the novel develops, Parker's concerns move from finding Joe's killer to finding out how much about his cover has leaked out and trying to perform damage control.

Bottom line - like other novels in the Parker series at 175 pages this is a short easy to read novel that provides a couple of interesting twists that will keep you on your toes as Parker hunts for the killer and to save himself.

What to make of a Yahoo! combination with Microsoft

2008-02-12T14:16:00.000-05:00

After being out sick for a few days I wanted to get back in the swing of things by putting a few thoughts out there on Microsoft's proposal to acquire Yahoo!

While lots is being written about the financial implications for shareholders and the remaining Yahoos! what isn't being widely discussed is what Microsoft is likely to do with the assets that it garners from this acquisition. At this point despite the protests from Yahoo's management and board it simply seems like posturing to get a better price at which to close the transaction.

If you're like me I rarely use Yahoo's dated search engine (if I use it for 1 out of 10 searches - which arguably is 1 more than I ever use MSN) the loss of this part of the web really won't be any loss at all.

For my own use the biggest asset that Yahoo! has is the strength of the firm's Yahoo Finance brand. It's always boggled my mind that Yahoo never attempted to move to a more powerful subscription tool for this part of the service given the growth in equity investing among small investors. Frequently Yahoo Finance actually beats major firms with dedicated wire services to tracking and releasing company specific news. In fact, Google Finance sources a number of its articles from Yahoo Finance and typically lags Yahoo in terms of updating the news wire feed to its site. While the firm did leverage traditional click-through ads as a means of monetizing the traffic to Yahoo Finance myself along with others would have gladly shelled out for an annual subscription with the promise of a few extra features.

At this point I'm busy hunting for an alternative but must admit few good options exist that enable a personal investor to get a comprehensive wire service coverage across a portfolio of stocks. While we still have some time since the deal is not yet done you can clearly see the headlights of the approaching Microsoft train heading toward Yahoo!

Send in any alternatives you have and I'll update this post.

"God Save The Mark" By Donald Westlake

2008-02-02T20:57:00.000-05:00

After reading a number of novels by Donald Westlake written under the pen-name of Richard Stark I opted to pick up another of his works. This time I chose "God Save the Mark" a mystery published in the late 1960s featuring the challenges a born "mark" named Fred Fitch faces. The interesting twist is that Fred Fitch inherits $300,000 from his long-lost Uncle Matt a former con-man. The mystery begins with the murder of Uncle Matt and a number of mysterious happenings taking place around Fred Fitch. Westlake takes this original premise and builds a strong plot with a solid pace of action and suspense as Fitch sets out to find his Uncle's killer and get to the bottom of the unexpected winfall in the form of the inheritance.

Overall, I would say the "God Save The Mark" is an enjoyable read but is not without its faults. The premise behind the novel is a little odd to say the least in terms of the character of Fred Fitch being the ultimate mark for con-men. I was skeptical about 20 pages in as to whether this novel was going anywhere but Westlake quickly turned up the heat as he begins to layer a strong plot-line around the mysterious inheritance and the death of Uncle Matt. If you're looking for an easy read and need a book to take with you to cottage to relax its worth adding "God Save The Mark" to your reading list.

A great web tie-in for LOST! fans

2008-01-26T21:15:00.000-05:00

An interesting web tie-in for fans of T.V. show LOST! ahead of the launch of Season 4 the creators of the show have convinced ABC to create a specialized website: Find815.com.

(Warning - if you're a LOST! fan this site is addictive and you'll end up sinking a significant amount of time into exploring this parallel story). This site lays out an intriguing spin-off story line where LOST! fans get to be pulled further into the main story. The premise behind the site is laid out in a series of chapters and videos that document the efforts of Sam Thomas the significant other of a missing stewardess Sonya from Oceanic flight #815. What is interesting about this Adobe Flash based site is that its very well designed with 5 separate chapters detailing the efforts of Sam to find out what happened to flight 815. Each chapter follows the same structure with a video recap, a video clip, a user challenge which involve a Flash based game that the user must win to continue with the story, a clue hunt that leads to a special preview of Season 4, and finally a video diary entry made by Sam.

Overall the site is very well designed and thought out and serves to draw you further into the story line and build buzz around the premiere of Season 4. My expectation is that we'll see more of these types of satellite websites in the future as networks seek to build and maintain an audience.

"The Seventh" by Richard Stark

2008-01-26T20:51:00.000-05:00

Another in the series of Parker novels takes a different twist over previous books. While you still get the background on the heist that Parker pulls off in this case the robbery of the gate proceeds from a football game at a stadium while the game is still in progress. However the interesting twist that Stark (aka Westlake) adds into this novel is that the focus is on a double cross. When Parker returns to find the woman he was holed up with dead, the money gone and the police closing in on him the action really heats up. I'd say that like the other Parker books this is a fast and easy read and while a 155 page novel isn't a short story it in many ways reads as quickly. What I found interesting about "The Seventh" is the interesting series of switches that the reader is setup for as we follow Parker on his hunt to find the killer and recover the money.

I'll hold back on going into more detail here on the plot and the nature of the story to avoid handing out any spoilers. Suffice it to say if you like the a quick fast moving mystery "The Seventh" should fit the bill quite nicely.

This book also carries the title "The Split" depending upon where your copy of the book was published.

MacHeads the Movie - A story about a community

2008-01-23T20:16:00.000-05:00

Just got a heads up on "MacHeads the Movie" a documentary about the Mac community which is due to be released shortly. The movie promises to cover a history of the Mac and features interviews with a number of well known MacHeads including:

Raines Cohen, Co-Founder of the first Macintosh user group BMUG,
Guy Kawasaki, former Apple Evangelist and savior,
Bruce Damer and Galen Brandt, owners of Digibarn Computer Museum,
Shawn King, host of Your Mac Life,
Adam Engst, publisher of the first Apple newsletter,
Leander Kaheny author of Cult of Mac,
Andy Ihnatko Chicago Sun-Times' technology columnist,
Daniel Kottke Mac engineer and the first official employee of Apple Inc,

Having read a range of books on Apple and the development of the Mac this documentary looks like it could offer an interesting twist on the topic of what makes Apple and Mac such icons. Simply put it seems like the team at Chimp 65 Productions is onto the answer which is the community of Mac users. Having been a Mac user since the beginning and having been involved in Macintosh User Groups and bulletin boards in the mid-80s the reality is the thing that has always made Macs different are the devotion of the users. I'll write a post once the movie gets released and I have a chance to watch it - in the meantime check-out their site.

A better rechargeable battery?

2008-01-21T19:47:00.000-05:00

If you're like me and have grown weary of swapping out other rechargeable batteries or worse still using disposable regular AA or AAA batteries in your gear this will hopefully offer a solution. Sanyo's Eneloop rechargeable batteries are one solution that I'm currently testing as a way out of my current battery woes. I found that a number of different big name brand rechargeables don't seem to hold a charge terribly well and for a short period I was stuck using Duracell disposables. When they finally gave up I purchased a package of Eneloop's after reading some commentary on the web regarding their performance. Basically Sanyo has developed a brand of rechargeable battery that offers the following claims:

Longer life with slower drain
No memory effect meaning that you don't end up with rechargeables that need to be thrown away in less than a year
Ability to use any quality NimH charger to recharge the batteries.

So far so good - I'll keep you updated with how well the Eneloop's hold up over time.

OLPC Arrives - Unboxing & Initial Thoughts

2008-01-18T22:01:00.001-05:00

My XO laptop from the One Laptop Per Child initiative finally arrived this week below are some pictures of the official unboxing along with some initial thoughts.

The only sign from the outside that it was a laptop was the trademark XO symbol on the side of the box.

Here is what awaits you inside the compact package - similar to Apple very little wasted space and minimal packaging to dispose of. The package contains:

1 XO Laptop
1 AC Power adapter

Overall initial impressions of the unit are that it is solidly put together and definitely doesn't feel cheap or low quality in any regard. I will admit to having had or used much more expensive laptops in the past that didn't have the same level of quality feel to the actual device.

With the lid open you can get a better sense of the laptop. The

industrial design that went into this machine is truly impressive as they have clearly thought about their user base and the environment the laptop is likely to be used in. For example the Wi-fi antennas serve three purposes: a) antennas, b) they comprise the lock part of the latch mechanism that secures the lid of the laptop when closed, and c) in the closed position the antennas act as part of the external rubber bumper system that surrounds and protects the XO.

The screen rotates allowing you to fully reverse the screen to show your work to others or to use the XO in a tablet like configuration.

The final interesting observation on the external case & design is the assembly of the device. The XO uses a single standard screw size meaning that for servicing you only need one standard screw driver to disassemble the laptop and a few extra screws are thoughtfully included inside the handle.

I'll post more on the XO once I've had a chance to go through the software in more detail. Overall, despite numerous complaints in other blogs and reviews it would seem that the XO on the surface appears to be a capable machine for its target audience - children in the developing world. As with anything there could always be improvements but relative to the timing and available resources it so far compares favorably with commercial counterparts.

Review of "The Mourner" by Richard Stark

2008-01-07T20:20:00.000-05:00

"The Mourner" is another in the Parker series of novels by Richard Stark (one of the pseudonyms of Donald Westlake). Parker is once again faced with the task of pulling off a difficult heist. In this case he has even more incentive to succeed in liberating a valuable statue as he's being blackmailed with evidence of a previous crime.

The Mourner sets out at a fast pace early on and doesn't slow down. If you like a quick, fast read that involves a good dose of action and suspense then The Mourner is for you. While the books are a little dated in terms of age Westlake's writing is skillful in avoiding getting caught up in a specific era and unnecessarily dating the book. Overall I'd recommend grabbing a copy of The Mourner it offers a quick enjoyable mystery as we follow Parker in the pursuit of yet another major heist.

Leopard - Useful new feature Webclips

2008-01-06T20:43:00.000-05:00

One useful feature that is included as a native part of Leopard is the ability to build a custom widget that is displayed in Dashboard. In Safari v3.0 a new icon appears in the toolbar
(a pair of scissors with a dotted box) that once clicked on allows you to select an area of the current web page to be monitored. Once you've selected the area you click the ADD button which puts a new Widget on your Dashboard. There are limited formatting options at this point in terms of the type of box that the web clip is displayed in. One thing that would be useful would be the ability to label the Widgets.

Overall, a small feature that previously you needed to use third party software and a couple of hacks to have this functionality. At this point I'm still experimenting with web clips having setup two 1) to monitor the current inventory of refurbished Macs on Apple's online store and 2) to monitor the ongoing auctions of vintage Macs on eBay.

"Secrets of Mental Math" by Arthur Benjamin & Michael Shermer

2008-01-05T13:42:00.000-05:00

After watching an interesting presentation from Professor Arthur Benjamin on the TED.com website who claims to be a mathemagician I was prompted to get a hold of a copy of "Secrets of Mental Math". The book is interesting in that it has forewords by "The Amazing Randi" (aka James Randi) and "The Science Guy" (aka Bill Nye).

I've spent the past month working my way through the parts of this book that intrigued me and must say that the tips and tricks really do work. I'm not the a math nut by nature but something about the video struck me and indicated that I should pickup a copy of Secrets of Mental Math. The good news is that Benjamin and Sherher approach the topic with a light hearted easy to follow style that makes it easy to understand how to perform these calculations in your head. My goal in starting this book was to sharpen my math skills so that I spent less time calculating and more time thinking about what the result of the calculation meant to the situation I was considering.

The only thing that I wish the book focused more on was the ability to retain and remember the products of the calculations you're working on. Typically, the techniques involve simplifying the problem at hand into a series of smaller problems - the only hitch with this is that you can end up getting thrown off course its often hard to remember the interim by-products meaning you need to start all over.

Bottom-line I HIGHLY recommend this book for anyone that wants to be sharper on their feet and handle calculations without being reliant on having a pencil & paper or a calculator at hand.

A great experience shopping at Heathrow

2008-01-02T20:30:00.000-05:00

An interesting experience based on a purchase at London Heathrow Airport. When I got home with a purchase I discovered that I actually wanted to return my purchase. The interesting aspect when I investigated returns on the BAA website is that they offer a worldwide returns/exchange program. Basically, you ship the item back to BAA's return centre including a receipt for the cost of postage and they process return. I received a separate cheque back in the currency of my choice for the postage and repayment for the goods returned. Overall great customer service on the shopping experience more than I can say about the flying experience out of LHR at times.

Get the best deal on a new fridge and don't leave your house!

2008-01-02T19:12:00.000-05:00

I wanted to pass along this tip after purchasing a new fridge but you could use this strategy on any appliance. Here's how I did it:

Once you've narrowed it down to the model you want and if you know all the exact specifications I'd recommend shopping via phone.
My script went something like this "Hello salesperson X, I'm Y and I'm looking to purchase a refrigerator before the end of the day I was wondering if you were interesting in the opportunity to earn my business.
Then I'd detail exactly what I was looking to purchase: Brand, Model #, the colour/metal, size in cubic feet, right-hand or left-hand hinge for the door.
I'd get the salesperson to provide a quote for the Fridge, Delivery and then I'd go over the taxes on each and have them agree with my final "all-in" price. Next check to see whether they have it in stock and when you'd get delivery.

Overall this was a great experience I ended up at the typical 20% range off MRSP (discounts you can expect range from 20 to 25% depending on time of year, brand and model). Best of all I didn't have to leave home - saved the gas and frustration of driving all over the city. Given the price of gas and the time involved my bidding process took a total of one hour and got to an end result much faster. Yes there may be those that say face to face, belly to belly haggling with a salesperson might yield a greater discount but as with all things in life there is a cost. I think that this is likely the most efficient method and got me the near lowest cost given that we were only buying a single appliance and couldn't piggy-back an order together with family or friends.

US says bye bye to analog TV and hello to digital

2008-01-01T19:05:00.001-05:00

Those owners of older TVs without a digital tuner and lacking cable are about to be cut off on February 18, 2009 when the U.S. changes the rules regarding over the air broadcast TV signal from analog to digital. As part of the change over the U.S. government is handing out $40 coupons for the purchase of a set-top box that will enable older analog TV's to continue to receive a signal via an antenna.

The official government site with details and the form to apply for a rebate coupon.
Here is a CNN article on the switch over.
A number of countries are still in the process of trying to switch off analog TV signals see this report to the Canadian CRTC

"Comeback" by Richard Stark - Book Review

2007-12-30T19:14:00.000-05:00

If you want a great book and you like reading thrillers Comeback by Richard Stark is the book for you. In the same style as Pulp Fiction, this novel isn't so much a mystery as an adventure novel that follows a career criminal named Parker who is enlisted to help in an unusual heist. While the objective in this case is to make off with a substantial haul (in excess of $400,000) the twist is that they are going to be knocking over a live event held by a tele-vangelist with the help of an insider and two partners. It doesn't take long for things to start going sideways on this job as the insider gets cold feet and needs to be convinced to help complete the heist. After the heist the plan is moving along until one of the partners decides to double cross his partners in hopes of making off with the haul. Once this turn occurs Comeback really starts to heat up as Parker needs to getaway with his remaining partner and they start to hunt down the turn coat. Without recounting the entire story line this book has a hefty dose of twists and turns as Parker goes all out to escape from this heist with his freedom and the loot. I'm hooked and will be definitely be looking up other novels in the Parker series.

"The Hot Kid" by Elmore Leonard - Book Review

2007-12-28T19:34:00.000-05:00

I picked up an Elmore Leonard novel "The Hot Kid" to read over the holidays and must admit that it was a great book. The premise of the book is a mix of hard-boiled cop mystery from the 1930's mixed with a twist of Western thrown in for good measure. While I'm not a huge fan of Westerns this book does a great job of mixing two forms and delivers an interesting crime novel more than a traditional mystery.

This book makes for an intriguing read as you follow the path of U.S. Federal Marshall Carl Webster from boyhood through his pursuits of seven criminals. Leonard's style is interesting in that he develops several simultaneous plot lines in the novel that eventually intersect that heads towards the final showdown in the book. The reader gets a glimpse into the criminal that eventually becomes public enemy number one and his showdown with Carl Webster. "The Hot Kid" turns out to be an easy read if you're looking for a solid crime novel. Leonard delivers with realistic and well developed characters a gritty back-drop of bank robbers, murder and general mayhem.

New Blog - Spin-off Classic Mac

2007-12-27T19:44:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to say that in an effort to improve this blog I've made the decision to spin-off the Apple, Mac and iPod related content and focus Thoughtful Wheaten on topics of Investing, Finance, Book Reviews, etc... Hopefully you'll enjoy the changes here is a link to the new blog:

Classic Mac

Time Machine First Experience

2007-12-22T19:52:00.001-05:00

I had my first experience using the new back-up utility included in OSX Time Machine the other day and thought it would be worth posting my impressions here. For some reason my iTunes library was corrupted in the last couple of days so I got the first opportunity to put Time Machine through its paces. In terms of usage once you launch Time Machine you get a glossy interface that offers you a view of your Finder in the middle of the screen and a time scale running off into space on the right side of the screen. Use of the application is very clean and seamless simply scroll back through different dates on the right hand scale till you find the appropriate date and you'll see the files updating dynamically as you scroll. Once you've found the file you want simply select it and click on the restore button which will restore the file to your desktop or specified file folder.

My take is that Time Machine hits the target in terms of its stated purpose in providing OSX users with a great tool for easily and simply backing up their files to an external drive. What Time Machine isn't is a full back-up tool that would displace SuperDuper! or CarbonCopyCloner in terms of making a bootable back-up of your entire hard drive.

While it's hard to get excited about a file back-up utility - Time Machine is likely one of the more subtle improvements in this release of the operating system. Since the majority of users never bother to back-up I think that the ability to turn Time Machine on, select your preferences (e.g., which folders to back-up) and simply let the program run. I will say that Time Machine is disk hungry and I'd recommend picking up a large hard drive (best to get a minimum 2x larger drive than the one that is internal to your Mac).

India Arriving The IT Story - Article & Book

2007-12-19T20:43:00.000-05:00

An interesting article came to my attention that points to a new book released in November by Stanford Professor Rafiq Dossani titled "India Arriving: How This Economic Powerhouse Is Redefining Global Business". The article is an editorial from SandHill.com a website dedicated to the Technology industry - emerging trends and their impact on IT.

The article provides a personal perspective on the changes that India is undergoing as it becomes a service driven economy. While the story of the major IT services firms in India (e.g., Infosys, Wipro, TCS, Satyam and others ...) are fairly well known what the article offers is an interesting glimpse into the changes taking place across India. Professor Dossani relays a story about travelling to one of the Tier 2 cities in India and contrasting the situation to the developments in Bangalore. Beyond his comments about the physical infrastructure and many of the well documented challenges of doing business in India relating to the crumbling infrastructure is the ingenuity being demonstrated by entrepreneurs in rising to meet these challenges as they growth their businesses. His description of seeing an IT outsourcing firm utilizing car batteries tied to an inverter to compensate for the challenges of an unreliable power grid remind me of pictures from this Nokia research presentation relating to cell phone refuelling stations in Africa. What struck me most about the article is the perspective of how technology is beginning to enter all areas of Indian life and the increasing importance of the cell phone and broadband connectivity in transforming the Indian economy and way of life. The editorial is well worth a read and I've put the book on hold at my local library - hopefully they'll get their copies soon so that I can read it and post a review here.

"Fiddlers" by Ed McBain - Book Review

2007-12-19T20:30:00.001-05:00

I just finished reading another of the novel's from Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series "Fiddlers" and would give it decent marks for a fairly solid work. McBain's work tends to be a little gritty and a little jumpier than I typically like in my mysteries. In this case the familiar cast of detectives from the 87th are back this time tracking a serial killer who at first is going after an oddly disconnected group of victims. My view is relative to other books in the series this novel starts at a fairly slow pace and it isn't till about half way through the 259 pages in the novel that things really start to heat up. Eventually the killer in the novel builds to six murders across various parts of New York but it really drags. I must say I'm seriously tempted to give the other books in the 87th Precinct series a pass after Fiddlers. Generally, I'm not a big fan of noire novels that involve a fair bit of gore or bloody content (although in fairness this isn't an overly gruesome tale) I'd say I much prefer the mystery element of stories and lean more towards books from Lawrence Block, Janet Evanovich, or Michael Connelly. If you enjoy a decent police procedural Fiddlers is unlike to disappoint but for others its likely worth taking a pass.

Cleaning up a PC before donating it to charity

2007-12-18T20:27:00.000-05:00

The main reason I switched to Macintosh was to eliminate the wasted time spent caring for and feeding my Windows PCs at home. I'm in the process of ridding our house of a 3 year old Dell desktop in an effort to organize things and plan to donate the PC to charity. However there are a number of things that I need to do before dropping off the PC to the non-profit that redistributes old computers to charities:

1. Backup and remove any files or data that you want to keep. In this case I believe that I have all the files I need but I burned 3 CDs full of data just to be safe.
2. Time to wipe the hard drive completely - in my case while I have legal software licenses that will effectively disappear with my computer I wanted to take extra precautions by entirely erasing and overwriting the data on my hard drive too ensure that personal data was completed removed from the PC. In this case I went to SourceForge and downloaded a copy of Darik's Boot and Nuke'em (DBAN) there are copies for various operating systems (e.g., Windows, Mac PowerPC) and media formats (e.g., bootable CD, bootable USB and floppy drive).
3. Once you've checked and confirmed that the machine is clean of all data - pack it up and off to charity it goes.

"Motor Mouth" Book Review

2007-12-18T20:26:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading "Motor Mouth" by Janet Evanovich a new mystery/adventure series she's authored around Alexandra Barnaby an engineer by training and a spotter for NASCAR driver Hooker. In typical Evanovich style the book follows a tightly woven story line with an engaging cast of characters that build around a puzzling mystery that builds into a full blown mystery. Motor Mouth is the second book in the Barnaby series that offers a great read without having to have read the first book in the series. In Motor Mouth Barnaby witnesses a multi-car crash at the final NASCAR race of the season which leads to a confession from a fellow spotter who asks for her help. Over the next several hundred pages Barnaby and Hooker set-out on an adventure to rescue a team-mates spotter, a Saint Bernard, recover missing microchips and dispose of two dead bodies. Start to finish this is a fun, easy read for those that are looking for a light-hearted mystery that is highly recommended.

Leopard A Few Thoughts After Living With A New OS

2007-12-16T21:26:00.000-05:00

After living with Leopard for a while I thought that it would be worth coming back and posting some additional impressions of the latest Mac operating system.

GUEST ACCOUNT - Last night, I made use of one of the features that I'd quickly looked at and dismissed but found extremely useful the ability to enable a Guest account on your Mac. The great thing about this is that you can allow a visitor who is over to use your computer safely and securely for a short period of time. Basically, its a single use account in that anything done during the session will be cleaned up when the Guest account is logged out or the machine is shutdown. I didn't expect to use this feature but found it extremely handy - have a look.
Here is where you go to activate the Guest Account.
Go to the Apple Menu > System Preferences > Accounts
Select the Guest Account in the sidebar to the left.
Check the checkbox next to Allow guests to log into this computer and configure Parental Controls if you're so inclined.

iChat 4.0 - Over the past few weeks, I've had the opportunity to spend more time using the latest version of iChat and must say that I'm impressed with the improvements that Apple has worked into this version.

In my opinion the iChat Theatre function is one of the biggest improvements in this release. Basically you're able to drag photos from iPhoto, your desktop or another program and drop them onto the chat window enabling you to show them as a slideshow to the person you're chatting with. In addition, you can also play movies from iMovie or .AVI and .MOV files saved to your desktop (I assume support is broader but I've only tested .MOV and .AVI files). This feature is great if you don't want to be bothered uploading a lot of photos to Flickr or videos to YouTube!
I've had chats with another user running Leopard so we were both able to experiment with the Computer Sharing functionality that enables another user to take control of your Mac remotely. I must admit this seems like a great option for those not interested in setting up Chicken of the VNC and much easier to administer.
The new backgrounds in iChat are fun but sensitive to the positioning of the lighting in your environment otherwise the effects don't come off as cleanly as they otherwise should.

"How Starbucks Saved My Life" Book Review

2007-12-16T20:57:00.001-05:00

I just finished reading "How Starbucks Saved My Life" by Michael Gates Gill an interesting book about the events that conspire to turn a man's life around. In short the story follows the life changing experiences that take the author from being a Creative Director at J Walter Thompson to unemployment and despair. The book follows the twists and turns that lead Mr. Gill to become a barista in a New York Starbucks rediscovering self-respect and happiness in his new life.

While I found that the book dragged when it described his childhood and College years as a person of wealth I tended to skip over this areas as they held little to no interest to me. The real story in this book that kept me reading was the changes he underwent and the interactions with his much younger co-workers at Starbucks. Having read a number of different business books about Starbucks this is an interested look inside the organization and the unique culture that the company has created.

Paperless boarding passes on your PDA!

2007-12-11T20:58:00.000-05:00

If you're like me and travel for business on a fairly regular basis you've likely gotten hooked first on the self-serve kiosks at the airport then on the web check-in (where you were able to login from home or the office via a web browser and print your ticket). Great news the next generation has finally started to arrive for North American airline carriers - wireless check-in. I must say that I'm excited to this mobile check-in feature on my Blackberry. The outbound trips are usually no problem since I have access to a browser and printer. The issue was always the return trip where I didn't have access to a computer and printer.

Air Canada started the trend basically you point your Blackberry or other wireless PDA at their mobile web portal and login just as you would at your computer or the self-serve kiosk. Here is the link on how it works and checkout this page for the initial limitations.

Now Contintental Airlines is conducting a three month test to evaluate the system prior to further roll-outs.

UPDATE - I had the opportunity on Friday to test Air Canada's paperless boarding pass delivered to my Blackberry and all I can say is FANTASTIC. For those times when you're running late on getting to your flight this tip can save you precious minutes. What happens is that you point the browser on your Blackberry or wireless PDA to mobile.aircanada.ca then follow the steps. If you're used to using the web check-in on a Mac/PC it will be very familiar as it follows the same steps with the pages simplified for a mobile device. At the end of the process you are sent two emails: 1) a confirmation, and 2) the boarding pass with a link to the bar-code. To save yourself time load the bar-code (for good measure save the image to the device - just in case) then leave the bar-code up on your screen. When you arrive at the security an agent will ask for your boarding pass and confirm it via a handheld scanner. When you're ready to board the plane same thing the gate agent simply scans the bar-code on your Blackberry. While the Internet experience on EDGE Blackberry's remains pathetic you can actually use it to login. My view is that this process is only going to get better going forward - enjoy and safe travels.

Tip of the Hat to Moen!

2007-12-10T20:05:00.000-05:00

I know you're wondering why I'm highlighting a plumbing supplies manufacturer but its simple there are so few firms that deliver exceptional customer service its notable to flag those that are doing a great job. In this case Moen definitely did a great job of customer support in the following situation:
I had a kitchen faucet that was starting to fail and quickly realized that a new cartridge for the faucet was what was called for. After a quick bit of web-surfing I found that Moen's site had a fanastic series of Flash videos walking the consumer through step by step how to disassemble and reassemble the faucet. Next stop was Home Depot where I got even more good news that since Moen stands behind its products the new cartridge that I needed was absolutely free (I just needed to bring back the used one so that Home Depot could send it back to Moen). Overall a great customer experience that makes me more likely to consider Moen next time we got to redo a kitchen or bathroom.

Review of "Never Eat Alone" by Keith Ferrazzi

2007-12-08T20:30:00.001-05:00

The book brings out a number of great ideas for introverts that are interested in expanding their social networks without having to become a relentless schmoozer. "Never Eat Alone" walks through a variety of steps that offer some solid tips in terms of meeting new people and establishing a lasting dialogue both personally and professionally. While this book likely falls in the self help category at your local or online bookstore it actually has a very heavy marketing flavor with the focus on building your own brand and network (this fits given Mr. Ferrazzi's background as a Chief Marketing Officer for several major organizations).

Here are some of the top tips that I felt "Never Eat Alone" offers up:

Plan out business trips and conferences with precision. The point is put forward that you want to maximize your time on the road and having a quality contact list for personal and business purposes that you can quickly access ahead of a trip to develop a list of people to contact once you reach your destination. One good suggestion is to drop in messages to your contacts in a city saying that you were in town and while you couldn't meet up on this trip you were thinking about them and would like to touch base on your next trip. On the conference side of things the suggestion involves targeting not necessarily the passive sessions you want to sit in but the presenters and other key people you're seeking to meet - basically you create a top 3 list of people you're targeting to meet at the conference and plan around these targets.

Get active in your community. A number of solid tips are offered up in terms of getting out and getting more involved in your community as a means of meeting new people.

He also covers a number of things NOT to do while networking here's the abbreviated list:

Focusing on collecting business cards like they're baseball cards - the message here is simple "its not a race the person with the most cards doesn't get a free t-shirt" the purpose is to actually make connections at events;
Ignoring or being rude to gatekeepers - this one falls in the category of good manners and common sense in treating everyone you meet with respect

Overall, I'd had "Never Eat Alone" recommended to me by a contact and thought that it sounded like an interesting read and must admit that while not all of the tips are for me I definitely got value out of reading it. In fact, this is one of the few books that I'm likely to add to my permanent collection by picking up a gently used copy on Amazon. This is likely the highest praise I can give a book since I'm committed to not add to the clutter at our house with new books unless I plan to use them multiple times.

"Journey to the center of the Earth and beyond!"

2007-12-08T19:58:00.001-05:00

I'm a big fan of the videos that come out of the TED conference (see this post for background) and have been slowly working my way through their library of content. One vodcast that stood out for me from an impressive group of throught-provoking presentations from a variety of innovative and interesting individuals.

Is this presentation from Bill Stone titled "Journey to the center of the Earth and beyond!"

As with many TED videos it opens your mind to some interesting ideas and in this case discoveries.

He starts by providing perspective on some of the most extreme deep earth caving expeditions that have been undertaken on earth such as:

Prof. Stone then highlights the technologies that his expeditions have developed in order to safely enter and explore the last major unexplored locations on Earth (have a look at some of these photos).

What makes this presentation stand-out from the crowd is simply his BOLD and audacious goal that Prof. Stone lays out at the end of the video. I must admit that I was riveted for the last few minutes of this video as he outlines the potential of a unique mission to the Moon designed to prove that you can process and harness sufficient energy to return to Earth. He committs to his broader goal at the end of the presentation to lead this project.

I encourage you to watch the vodcast and think about what your own bold goal is...

Check your child's toys for recalls & lead

2007-12-05T21:11:00.001-05:00

Given all the recent attention on various toy recalls from major manufacturers relating to toxic chemicals in children's toys I wanted to post the following links that help parents determine if the child's toys are safe:

Healthy Toys a volunteer organization that is doing testing on toys and reporting the results on their website.

US Consumer Product Safety Commission The U.S. government agency charged with testing and regulating consumer products where you'll find the official announcements regarding mandatory toy recalls.

Mattel Product Recall page. Mattel lists the various products and product numbers from its brands that have been recalled and what consumers should do.

Let me know other sources and I'll update this list.

What Mac apps broke under Leopard?

2007-12-04T21:22:00.000-05:00

I started thinking about which applications broke under the migration from Apple's Tiger operating system to the newest release Leopard. In general my transition to Leopard has been fairly pain free given past operating system migrations that I've undertaken on the Mac and under Windows.

At this point there are still a number of applications that I use that haven't fully made the move to Leopard including:

SuperDuper! While I am running TimeMachine, there is still a place for ShirtPocket's SuperDuper! backup program. This is the program that I'm looking forward to having updated by far given the importance of having full back-ups.
FetchArt - This is a freeware program that allows you to automatically update your iTunes library for missing album art automatically from Amazon's music store.
Adobe Creative Suite 3 Lots have been said about this elsewhere in the blogosphere in terms of Adobe's lag time in releasing this application suite.

I'd blame most of the lag in having applications Leopard ready on Apple since it sounds like they made fairly major changes to the final gold master release from prior developer releases. It seems from reading most of the sites of the affected applications that the independent development community is hard at work seeking to address the changes required to run under Leopard.

What apps do you use that didn't make the journey to Leopard yet?

Addicted to iMovie08

2007-12-02T20:42:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned in an earlier post I've started to experiment with iMovie '08 and have been having a blast editing and building my own videos. At this point I'm using short video clips taken from our camera (a Canon SD800 IS - the image stabilization is well worth it). While I know that some traditional iMovie users are less then thrilled with the 2008 version I must admit that it seems like a great application (albeit this is the first version I've used).

I wanted to highlight a few of the features that I've been spending the most time with outside of editing

I'm by no means a master video editor but the ability to quickly drop in a nice title, create slick transitions between clips and overlay music or sound effects (either from iMovie, Garageband or iTunes) is a winner in my books.

The synchronization feature with iTunes which enables the user to select the quality of the output and enables you to export to an iPod Touch or iPhone. Previously I'd used iSquint to convert the files from .avi files to movies that could be played on my Touch.
The built-in synchronization with either YouTube! or .Mac for video sharing that enables one-click publishing to the web is a major plus when you just want to create the content and push it out there. I am currently testing YouTube! as an alternative to .Mac given the relatively hefty price $109 that Apple wants for a one-year subscription. There have been a myriad of complaints from people about the hefty price tag and relatively light feature set for .Mac. My take is that after trying the .Mac trial for the past 60 days they're justified complaints since the service is of limited value to those of us that already have alternate email addresses. I will admit that the one-click publishing from iPhoto and iMovie are the main reason that I'd consider signing up for .Mac. Drop me an email and let me know the online services you're using for photo and video sharing and your experiences.

For those that want to get into iMovie in more detail have a look at Unlocking iMovie '08 a great site with tons of tips and tricks for producing your own movies.

My machine does lag a little when importing the video from my iPhoto library and this may be helped by bumping the RAM on my Macbook Pro up to 4GB. I'm planning to upgrade over the next month and will post an update on the improvement in video processing that bumping the RAM makes. Given that video processing is fairly processor intensive I'm hoping that extra RAM will help free up some more space in managing the conversion process.

"Lean Mean Thirteen" Book Review of Janet Evanovich's latest

2007-12-01T14:45:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading the latest mystery from Janet Evanovich in her series about bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. If you've never read any of the Plum novels and you enjoy a fun easy reading mystery that offers lots of laughs and some solid suspense this is a series that you need to check out. Evanovich has constructed all the elements of a great series with a consistent familiar setting that is well described and a set of engaging characters that draw you into the story. For my money she is by far one of the best mystery writers out there today with an easy to read style that make her books hard to put down.

In her most recent novel "Lean Mean Thirteen" ("LMT"), Evanovich doesn't disappoint and comes through again with another hilarious novel involving the misadventures of New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. The story revolves around Stephanie's ex-husband Dickie a small-time lawyer who goes missing and Stephanie becomes a suspects as partners in Dickie's law firm turn up dead. The book takes the reader through a series of twists and turns as Stephanie works to find Dickie and figure out what he's been up to that has mobsters chasing him. I won't give you any more details of the plot since I don't want to reveal any spoilers just suffice it to say that LMT continues on the fun of the Plum series of books.

Top 5 Things To Improve the iPod Touch

2007-11-23T22:29:00.000-05:00

After having the iPod Touch for almost two months I thought it would be worth posting some thoughts on some improvements that I'm hoping that Apple will make in version 2 of the device. Some of the fixes below are relatively small while others call for major hardware/software updates. Here goes:

Wireless synchronization. The one feature that Zune 2 (and Zune 1 via the software update - a very smart move on the part of Microsoft given that it costs them nothing to do and improves the odds of a shaky device) is the ability to wirelessly synchronize your music library. I must admit that remembering a USB to iPod cable has been a major inconvenience over the past few years. It's high time that Apple stepped up and enabled wireless sync - we have a WIFI iTunes music store how about something useful for all users.
Ability to enable landscape keyboard across all applications. I must admit that having the ability to use the software driven keyboard in landscape mode in all applications would significantly improve usability of the device. While Safari and Mail enable you to use the keyboard in landscape mode others such as Notes do not allow this functionality. The landscape keyboard improves the typing experience significantly by allowing more screen real estate for the keys.
Improved battery life. I can say that the battery life is adequate on the device as it stands and varies based on your usage (e.g., video, WIFI, photos) from charge to charge. However I will say that for long flights (3 hours +) as a regular music player I find that you can usually make it but there is not a lot of room for error. It would be nice to see improved battery life in the next version.
License Adobe's Flash Lite player for Safari. The Safari browser is by far the best mobile web browser that I've used in a small form factor device. The one thing that is missing that would significantly improve the usability of the device on the web is the ability to play Flash content on various websites. Given the ubiquity of Flash as a standard for digital video, websites and media on the web the lack of this plug-in is a major drawback in using the device as a full fledged laptop replacement on the road. I realize that Apple is likely reticent to increase the cost of the bill of materials by licensing the Flash Lite player (the mobile version of the Flash player) from Adobe. However, the inability to play Flash based media on the
A mobile version of Quicktime. Whether Apple will breakdown and grant my wish in #4 it makes no sense as to why they wouldn't seek to enable their own media player to work on the device as a plug-in to Safari. Come on Apple I realize that you were in a rush to release both the iPhone and the Touch but its high time you ported Quicktime to this platform. My hope is that Apple doesn't pull a Sony in terms of being arrogant and neglecting a device with huge potential to become a true mobile device.
Exterior buttons for volume control. If you're commuting or on the go and don't want to pull the Touch out of your pocket it would be great to have exterior volume controls and a pause function. At the moment its a hassle to have to take the device out and look at the screen for such a simple task. (Full credit for this idea to Fink-Nottle in this ehMac.ca post for pointing out this shortcoming
http://www.ehmac.ca/anything-mac/58406-ipod-touch-great-i-think.html )
Add an external speaker. This addition didn't jump out at me initially until I tried sharing some videos with others and must admit the lack of an external speaker is a drawback.

Overall I still think the Touch is a great device and would expect that Apple will sell-out this holiday season. My thought is that the five wishes above do not over-reach the design goals of either the iPhone or iPod Touch. I haven't pushed for anything extreme here that are off plan such as an improved gaming experience that would see either device move beyond their design target of being a mobile communication and multi-media device. Let me know what you think - more importantly let's pull together and get Apple to improve the device!

Fun with iMovie 08

2007-11-22T22:28:00.000-05:00

I've been somewhat delinquent in my postings over the past week as things have been fairly busy at work and I've been working on finishing reading and writing reviews of several new books. However after spending some time tonight working with iMovie 08 I wanted to post some quick thoughts on the tool and the future of digital media. For those that don't own a Mac, iMovie 08 is part of the iLife 08 suite of consumer digital applications sold by Apple for use on the Macintosh. iMovie is an application that enables you to import, edit and publish your own digital movies recorded from either a camcorder or digital camera. Historically, I've never been a big user of digital video editing applications but iMovie has changed that given it's simplicity and ease of use.

I've never been a big home movie fan or camcorder fiend but here is what has changed my mind with iMovie:

Ease of Use
- the interface is simple to use and powerful in its ability to enable even a novice user like myself to quickly edit and build an impressive looking movie
- the ability to incorporate music from your iTunes library means that you can really dress up your clips with your favorite music

Publishing
- integration with Apple's .Mac web hosting service that enables one-click publishing to the web and easy maintenance of clips in the event that you update them in the future
- integration with YouTube provides you with the ability
- built-in ability to export your movies to iTunes and have them preformatted for your various iPods (e.g., Touch, Nano, iPhone, Classic) makes it very simple for the new user and allows you to skip the need to use third party apps such as iSquint

My take is that the editing functions are a major step forward for the average consumer. However, the big reason that iMovie is a major step forward is the seamless publishing and integration with various playback devices (e.g., iPods, external websites) making this a very powerful tool. I'm now at risk of getting hooked on developing and publishing lots of Movies to the web!

Follow-up: In spending more time working with iMovie08 I wanted to provide a link to a great resource the Unlocking iMovie '08 blog offers a variety of great tips and useful tricks for getting the most out of iMovie.

"The Blind Side" by Michael Lewis - Book Review

2007-11-18T19:48:00.000-05:00

After watching an interview with author Michael Lewis in the @Google interview series on YouTube I decided to get a hold of a copy Mr. Lewis' latest book "The Blind Side". I've read a number of Michael Lewis' previous books Liars Poker, The New New Thing, and Moneyball and find his work to be engaging and fun to read. The Blind Side did not disappoint and follows in the footsteps of Moneyball in terms of focusing on professional sports moving from baseball previously to football this time.

While I have no real interest in football the back story on Michael Oher the main character in this book seemed to be worth getting a copy of the book. I will say that Mr. Lewis does not disappoint laying out what is a truly remarkable story of how a neglected teenager from the worst part of Memphis has his life transformed through a series of unlikely events. We follow Michael Oher through a trial period at one of the top private Christian high school's in Memphis. An unlikely story emerges as someone that the system had effectively given up on is given a second chance. The book details how Michael Oher gains not only a second chance but a real family and home for the first time in his life. Also the bizarre high pressure world of recruiting for college and NFL football is laid out in intricate detail as we see Michael courted by every major college in the U.S.

Bottom line - whether you have any interest in football or not "The Blind Side" offers a compelling read with a positive story about how a life can be completely transformed through a series of circumstances.

Thoughts on Apple's latest cat - a week with Leopard

2007-11-13T21:18:00.000-05:00

My copy of Leopard finally arrived via the "Up To Date" program offers to recent Mac purchasers. Once I'd received my copy I sat down to undertake the upgrade process only after I had a complete bootable backup copy of my existing 10.4 drive. Rather than undertake the traditional "clean" upgrade that I'd undertake with a Windows PC I opted instead to migrate from 10.4 to Leopard. The process took approximately one and a half hours as it went through the upgrade steps..

As I've gotten to know Leopard better here are some of my top observations:

Preview.app - as someone that actively reads large PDF files and edits images this is a great update of Apple's built-in viewing application. Some series changes have taken place and will enable users to discard Skim! a great application that let users mark-up and annotate PDFs.

Automator - while I haven't had a lot of time to experiment with the new version of Automator. A number of significant changes have been implemented making it even easier for the average user to perform repetitive tasks. I'm looking forward to working with Automator in greater detail but they've improved integration across applications and the operating system.

Stacks - this was a feature that I was skeptical about using since it seemed more like glossy feature-ware than a useful addition. However so far I've started to use Stacks to help organize my desktop since I leave a number of high priority documents sitting on my desktop. I took these documents and placed them in a folder that sits on my dock making it faster easier and neater to access these documents.

iChat - Apple has made a number of positive improvements to iChat beyond including access to more networks to connect with buddies. A number of interesting features have been added to the application with the ability to utilize a much wider range of backgrounds including custom back-drops from a user specified picture. Our testing indicated that the application can effectively change the backdrop to a user selected picture(s). The application also allows you to transfer files directly to your buddy via file transfer or sharing through iChat Theatre - both of which worked well. The most useful function included in iChat was the ability to share your computer with your buddy. As a replacement for Chicken of the VNC an open source remote administration application the latest version of iChat is equally useful for an average user. We were able to utilize screen sharing to prove out the ability for a remote users to execute a variety of commands across various applications (e.g., Finder, iPhoto, Safari).

More thoughts later.

TED Talks - Thoughts on cell phone design.

2007-11-06T20:08:00.000-05:00

Following up from my post last night about interesting places on the web to watch some thoughtf provoking videos with interviews, lectures from a variety of interesting speakers. I wanted to offer some thoughts after watching a presentation by Jan Chipchase of Nokia Research entitled "Our cell phones, ourselves" that was given at this year's TED conference. To provide a brief overview in a ~20 minute discussion he covers some of the interesting findings from a series of Nokia field research projects relating to people's use of mobile phones. This discussion is even more interesting in that it doesn't tackle micro details in the sense of what functionality on today's cell phones and smart phones people use. Instead, he focuses his discussion addressing more fundamental questions about why people take cell phones with them? what other key items do people across the majority of cultures and countries take with them when they leave their home? I'll leave it to you to go watch the video but I think it raises some interesting points about our use of technology and the different use cases that actually arise when a product goes out into the field.

After watching the presentation I took a look at Mr. Chipchase's profile page at Nokia and found some interesting presentations that you can review. Typically they're relatively short 20-30 page presentations that cover a range of research topics he's worked on. A couple that I found particularly interesting dealt with work from a trip to Uganda and addressed the issue of how you recharge a cell phone in an area that does not have access to the central power grid. He touched on some of his team's work in Uganda in terms of first person interviews, home visits, shadowing a person's use of a phone in his TED discussion. The presentations relating to power in Africia show the level of ingenuity that exits as people adapt to meet the requirements of day to day life. His slides detail the existence of street level charging kiosks that operate throughout Ugandan cities where an operator for a fee recharges a customer's cell phone. My key thought in looking thought in flipping through these presentations is that emerging markets will adapt the resources they have at hand as they seek to leverage new technologies. Given the portability and low capital costs required to purchase a mobile handset its clear that a new series of applications will evolve in these markets as people seek to communicate, do business and improve their standard of living.

Great Thought Provoking Videos Online

2007-11-05T19:43:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple of my top links that you should check-out if you're interested in learning more about the world.

First up At Google Talks basically this is an internal seminar series held within Google for its employees. The talks are with famous and interesting individuals covering a range of occupations including:

Authors (e.g., Michael Lewis, Michael Bloomberg, Jeffrey Toobin, Tom Brokaw, George Soros, Steve Wozniak)
Candidates (e.g., John Edwards, John McCain .....)
Musicians (e.g., Jose Gonzalez ...)

Needless to say very thought provoking and covers a wide range of topics. I have the feeling that I'm going to be very busy watching a bunch of these interviews over the next few weeks.

Second time to check-out TED. If you haven't heard about TED let me introduce you. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment & Design. The motto of TED is "Ideas worth spreading" and it also covers a range of topics from: Technology, Entertainment, Design, Business, Science, Culture, Arts, and Global Issues. TED is a non-profit organization that hosts a conference once a year for 1,000 attendees in Monterrey, California.

Convert old cassettes to digital and listen on your iPod - Mac Version

2007-11-03T21:31:00.000-04:00

If you're like me you've got a number of cassette's still kicking around that don't exist on your iPod or in your digital music collection. I finally decided to address the problem and convert a number of these tapes into digital. Here's how its done:

What you'll need:

1 Cassette Player with a standard mini out jack - in my case a fairly cheap Cassette Deck (if you have a higher end cassette deck you may need a slightly different patch cable)
1 Patch Cable - in this case a Mini RCA to Mini RCA Cable with two Male attachments on either end
1 Mac - in my case a Macbook Pro
Cassette Tapes
Audio Capture software - in my case I used the Audacity an open source software package that supports Mac, Windows and Linux platforms. Garageband will also handle this task.
Download libmp3lame which is a plug-in for Audacity that enables it to export files to MP3 format

How to convert a cassette:

Connect your cassette player to your Mac (depending on your version you may have an audio line-in jack as is the case with the Macbook Pro or you may need to purchase a third party cable that operates through USB - I'll leave you to Google this elsewhere on the web).
Next launch Audacity and start a New Project (from the File Menu)
Go to the Audacity Menu and select Preferences select the Tab "Audio I/O" under the Recording section set the drop down menu to "Built-in Input" then click OK.
Next press play on the cassette player and push the Record button in Audacity you'll see the log begin to move with the Wave form varying with the level of the audio on your cassette.
After you've sampled a small section of audio hit stop and listen to your result. At this point you'll likely want to play around with the different levels within Audacity to get the optimal recording.
Once you're happy with the line levels and you're ready to start begin a new project and record the entire cassette.
Now that you've got you're cassette file in you may find some artifacts in the recording that you don't like such as that annoying cassette recorder hiss. Here is how to remedy this: find a section of your clip that is a pause that contains just the hiss then select that section and go to the Effects menu and select Noise Removal. Hit the Sample Noise button it will then close this dialog box - don't worry it just sampled the noise. Now go to the Edit menu and choose Select All next return to the Effects menu then select Noise Removal again this time click on the Remove Noise button. Once completed listen to the project again and the prior steps should have removed that annoying hiss if not play around with the noise removal options some more.
Next go to the File menu and select Export as MP3. Follow the dialogs and save your recording as an MP3 file.
Launch iTunes and go to the File menu and select Import navigate to the MP3 file you just created select it and click on import.
Finally synch your iPod and listen to your newly digitized recording.

You may also be interested in this post if you're looking to enhance the audio on your iPod.

Discounts on Apple Product - Still Waiting For Leopard

2007-11-01T21:58:00.000-04:00

Well I'm still stuck waiting for Leopard since I recently bought a new MacbookPro I purchased the upgrade under an Apple program called "Up to date". Which is a great deal deal $9.95 vs. the regular $129 price tag. One other great tip on finding a discount on Apple gear is the Corporate sales program that Apple offers customers. If you work for a large organization check around since as I've discovered Apple has cut deals with major corporations to allow them and their employees to purchase new product at a discount. While the discount isn't as good as the Educational discount offered to those in College/University or Teachers the Corporate program could save you real $$$ on new Apple product.

While I wait I've been keeping myself busy searching for a good deal on another large external Firewire drive to accomodate TimeMachine (the interesting back-up program included in Leopard). I should be going to Costco this weekend to pickup two different Western Digital external hard drives that offer great value. Once I've purchased the drives and have them up and running I'll post some thoughts.

"Black Gold" - Movie Review

2007-10-28T19:33:00.000-04:00

Just finished watching an interesting documentary from the U.K. titled "Black Gold" that details the struggle of coffee farmers to achieving a fair price for their coffee. The film puts a human face on the challenge of increasing the price farmers in developing nations receive for their crops in this case coffee. The directors focus in on the efforts of an Ethopian coffee co-operative led by Tadesse Meskela. Mr. Meskela represents the Oromia Coffee Farmers Co-operative Union and provides viewers with a first hand look at the challenges facing a coffee farmer in a developing nation. He describes the co-operative's efforts to put a greater percentage of the price of coffee into the hands of those that are actually growing the crop. Amazingly the value chain is six links long from the time the coffee leaves the farmers hands until it reaches the consumer in a Western nation. Clearly a number of the steps involving middle men could and should be eliminated for the benefit of both the consumer and the farmer.

Unlike other documentaries on coffee that I've seen very little time is spent on the big 3 (e.g., Kraft, Procter & Gamble, Starbucks) that are responsible for a significant portion of the coffee purchases and resale. Instead this movie takes a slightly more political turn instead focussing on the 2005 WTO meeting in Cancun, Mexico. My view is simple bureaucrats and "professional" diplomats actually have no vested interest in actually solving the problem faced by farmers in their own countries much less developing nations. I'd take a lead from Jim Rogers' commentary on African Aid from his book "Investment Biker" in referring to the waste and overhead that NGOs and other aid organizations actually apply to the system. Instead I agree with the sentiment expressed by a member representing Malawi in the film who indicated that his people weren't interested in foreign aid since this is only a band aid solution nor are they interested in charity instead they are looking for fair and equitable trade.

I will say that after watching this documentary and another one on the challenges faced by coffee farmers I do tend to look for and choose fair trade coffee when available. To learn more about the film and fair trade coffees visit: www.blackgoldmovie.com

Shure 110 ear phones review

2007-10-24T20:59:00.001-04:00

By no means am I an audiophile but after a number of years of iPod use on a daily basis I opted to upgrade the ear phones with the purchase of an iPod touch. Previously, I had been using a cheap replacement pair of ear bud style headphones and grew tired of having to crank up the volume on the subway. Like many others I found that the stock Apple ear buds did not fit my ears particularly well thus my search for a pair of noise cancelling ear phones. Since I commute via subway and frequently fly having a small portable pair of ear phones is critical. I did some research and slowly ratcheted up my budget given that the cheap ear phones only typicallly lasted for a year. Given that I didn't want to spend more than $100 and am not an audiophile (my main listening on the iPod Touch is to podcasts) I quickly realized that I would be going with noise isolating ear phones. The main difference between noise isolating headphones is that they utilize an ear bud that can be compacted (similar to ear plugs) and placed in the ear that expand to block out noise. Noise cancelling headphones utilize a microphone to sample outside sound and offset the noise with a sound wave that is the opposite of the ambient noise being cancelled. My reading indicated that noise cancelling headphones were most effective at filtering out consistent frequencies (airplane engines) but were typically in over the ear style headphones or available in high end (read very expensive $300+ in ear ear phones).

At the end of the day I opted to purchase a pair of Shure 110 ear phones for use with my touch and to-date have been happy with the performance of these headphones. The main challenge in using these ear phones is to get used to a pair of in ear ear phones. In this case I found the biggest challenge was to find the correct positioning in inserting these ear phones but I seem to finally have the knack. The main complaint that I'd have about this pair of ear phones is that the length of cable running to the right ear bud is a bit short given that both earphones connect to a spliter that weighs enough to at times pull the ear bud out of your ear if not put in the correct position. Overall I'd look at this pair of ear phones as a solid option for noise isolating ear phones. At the end of the day, spend the extra money and buy a quality pair of ear phones your hearing is worth it.

"Hedge Hunters" - Book Review

2007-10-24T19:39:00.000-04:00

Hedge Hunters is a book by Katherine Burton that similar to Inside the House of Money covers the inner workings of the hedge fund business. The book offers readers a perspective into the hedge fund business through interviews with some of the more successful fund managers. Unlike Inside the House of Money, this book approaches the hedge fund industry from a slightly different angle by asking a series of questions:

What makes a great hedge fund manager?
What accounts for the ability to thrive under conditions that make mere survival an achievement?

To answer these questions Hedge Hunters reveals the thoughts of over 18 different portfolio managers through a series of interviews (most are relatively short 8 to 10 pages in length) and cover a standard background on the subject then a discussion of their approach to investing. The portfolio managers included in the book are:

Mark Yusko - Blue Ridge Capital; Michael Steinhardt - Steinhardt Management Company
John Armitage - Egerton Capital; Marc Lasry - Avenue Capital Group
Craig Effron - Scoggin Capital Management; Lee Ainslie - Maverick Capital
Bernay Box - Bonanza Capital; Boone Pickens - BP Capital;
Brian Bradshaw, David Meaney, Michael Ross & Alex Szewczyk - BP Capital
Josh Friedman & Mitch Julis - Canyon Partners
Jeffrey Schachter & Burton Weinstein - Cedarview Capital Management; Dwight Anderson - Ospraie Fund
Roberto Mignone - Bridger Management; Bruce Ritter - Yannix
Julian Robertson - founder of Tiger Management; Jim Chanos - Kynikos Associates
Richard Perry - Perry Capital; Daniel Loeb - Third Point.

The book covers a wide range of hedge funds and investment styles from macro global to distressed debt firm so there is enough range that everyone can find something for them in the book. I found myself warming to this book increasingly as I read further and found that the points out of the interviews seemed to be more clearly defined. I will admit the first part of the book reads more like a series of magazine interviews but as you get further in the momentum builds and the chapters flow together and build on the discussion (a large part of this has to do with the interrelationships of funds and managers detailed in the later half of the book).

Here are a few points that were made by different interviewees about the investing process that resonated with me:

A great quote regarding contrarian investing from Bernay Box "I like to go to the party to see who's drunk" relating to the "hot" stock of the moment. In terms of problem stocks he states "... I like to go to fires to see what's coming out of the ashes".
The interview with Jeffrey Schachter & Burton Weinstein takes an interesting turn as it focuses on the improvements their firm has made to their investment process to address challenges they'd faced. The interview details their use of tools for trading such as aggressive use of Stop-Loss orders on their positions, a strong IT infrastructure to track and ensure they focused on the best ideas from their team.
Julian Robertson offers some interesting criteria he looks for in bringing on new talent into his firm which include: honest, smart, hard-working and competitive people. Mr. Robertson's provides good insight into part of the process of developing a great hedge fund manager since he has been instrumental in training and helping launch the careers of a long-list of successful managers. I think the interview with Mr. Robertson while different in tone to others in the book is one of the more interesting given that so little time and attention is paid to developing great talent in the investment management business.

Bottomline - Whether you're interested in becoming a professional investor or simply better managing your money Hedge Hunters offers some valuable insights into the techniques, mind-set and skills needed to be a successful hedge fund manager.

Fair Disclosure - I was sent a review copy by Bloomberg the publisher of this book to read and was skeptical but as stated in the above review found it a worthy read especially for those interested in hedge funds or professional investing.

"A Crude Awakening - The Oil Crash" - Thoughts on the Movie

2007-10-20T22:41:00.000-04:00

Just finished watching "A Crude Awakening The Oil Crash" by Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormark a thought provoking documentary on the future of oil production. The documentary centers around questions about the history of oil, the use of oil then moves on to topics covering the growing demand for hydrocarbon based fossil fuels.

The filmmakers gather a broad series of perspectives in presenting their case for the point that we are running out of cheap easily recovered oil. The film consists with interviews with a number of experts including: former Oil executives, oil geologists, various academics and political advisers and takes the viewer on a journey across the world (e.g., Britain, China, India, Venezula, Russia, USA, and the Middle East). The film is an interesting journey covering the early discoveries of oil, through to the case of peak oil in the U.S. in terms including the definition of Hubbert's Peak (named after American geophysicist Marion King Hubbert).

This movie does what any good documentary should do which is to make you think critically and thoughtfully about the topic being addressed. In this case it leaves you with as many questions as answers including:

What happens when its clear we've peaked in terms of discovering new oil?
How do we best adapt to the reality that the era of cheap oil is coming to an end?
Are the alternative energy sources being put forth a stop-gap or a clear alternative

Overall, well worth renting or picking up a copy from your local library for a watch.

Prepping for Leopard - Only a week to go!

2007-10-19T19:57:00.000-04:00

Okay, its only a week to go before Leopard hits the street at 6pm!

Have you pre-ordered your copy? I'll admit I have a copy on the way and will be getting the discounted version since I recently upgraded to a Macbook Pro from the white Macbook I'd been using for the past year. Hopefully, the web orders will ship in time to arrive for next Friday. Although, if you're near an Apple store and don't qualify for either the education discount or have bought a Mac that qualifies (in the past month) and you want the full fanboy experience you may want to line-up supposed free Leopard t-shirts are being handed out to an early number of buyers.
If you need a fix Apple has posted a guided tour that covers the key features watch it here

Alright time to talk about getting prepared. The following are some useful links that I've encountered in thinking about prepping my machine (since it was a migration of my previous OSX image from my Macbook).

Start with this article from MacWorld
Next I'd move on to reading this set of tips from Lifehacker
A great post about cleaning up your hard drive
My starting advice would be to back-up you Mac to an external drive using SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner.

Huzzah! Apple announces SDK for iPhone & iPod Touch

2007-10-17T19:34:00.000-04:00

GREAT NEWS!

Following on the heels of the rumors from yesterday regarding the potential for Apple to relent and open up the iPhone and iPod touch platforms to third party developers - this announcement was posted on Apple's site today:

Let me just say it: We want native third party applications on the iPhone, and we plan to have an SDK in developers’ hands in February. We are excited about creating a vibrant third party developer community around the iPhone and enabling hundreds of new applications for our users. With our revolutionary multi-touch interface, powerful hardware and advanced software architecture, we believe we have created the best mobile platform ever for developers.

...
We think a few months of patience now will be rewarded by many years of great third party applications running on safe and reliable iPhones.

Steve

P.S.: The SDK will also allow developers to create applications for iPod touch. [Oct 17, 2007]

Digital Signatures: The other interesting topic that is directly addressed in the posting is the topic of mobile security and the desire on the part of Apple to control. Nokia is cited as using digital signatures issued to developers as an initiative to allow third parties to develop for their handsets yet still enable Nokia to ensure control over content in the name of security and stability. While I'm sure there will be some that snipe and grouse about the lack of unfettered freedom my take is that this is a logical and should cut down on the level of frustration for all concerned.

I think that everyone in the Mac community owes a HUGE hats off to the dedicated set of hackers that forced this issue by developing some interesting and compelling apps beyond Apple's initial weak "Web 2.0" excuse of using browser based apps. My take is that the future for this platform looks bright and in general Apple's creativity and moves have given the handset manufacturers a wake-up call. We're starting to see some interesting innovations related to user interface as opposed to the thin, bland and often weird designs the handset makers have been putting out over the past couple of years.

As a side note - stop by Engadget and have a look at the recently released Nokia 810 definitely some nice advances on an interesting device that I think will continue to point to the direction of personal computing.

A call for Apple to open the iPhone & iPod touch platform.

2007-10-16T20:13:00.000-04:00

Well, we knew it was bound to happen sooner of later the iPod Touch was hacked last week through a browser exploit that created a small enough hole in the OS and the hackers forced their way in. There is now a full scale automated hack with a OSX and Windows GUI versions available in the form of iJailbreak for the Mac - see TUAW for links to the Windows app.

I will say undertaking the hack process when not sick would be a good move and having sufficient patience to ensure the hack goes smoothly helps. My best advice is to ensure that you start with a clean iPod Touch that has been restarted before beginning the process. The good news is unlike the iPhone there is a much lower risk of "brickage" on the touch since it lacks the need to connect to a cellular network.

I will admit that the touch apps are definitely worth the effort and highlight the potential that a haptics based touch screen interface has in terms of potential. Apple is in a very interesting position at the moment having surged ahead of the rest of the cell phone market with Nokia, Motorola, RIM and others in a frantic dash to catch-up with their innovation. Clearly, the competition has seen the threat and is reacting as in this great video clip showing a cleaned up version of Nokia's upcoming S60 Touch.

While Apple needs to be sensitive to its carrier relationships and the need to ensure a high degree of stability and reliability in its devices the biggest weapon it has at its disposal is a large and willing body of third party developers interested in building cool apps for its platform. Hopefully Apple, won't make the same mistake that Sony made with the PSP in sticking so rigidly to a view that it must maintain a closed system that the potential of the device as demonstrated by inventive third parties will wither on the vine.

I think Apple should be able to see the interest and desire from its customers for these enhancements to its product that it will see the light and open up the platform. It shows that customers are willing to invest their time in jumping through technical hoops to open up their device to new applications. I would even hazard to guess that if the process of installing, managing and certifying applications that Apple would even be able to make some money most easily in the form of driving significant market share gains in what now looks to be an emerging market for personal mobile devices. The rumors now circulating today are that Apple will introduce an SDK for developers in January 2008 - let's hope they're right!

Can't wait for Leopard

2007-10-15T20:20:00.000-04:00

I must admit I am eager to get my hands on Apple's next release of its operating system Leopard. I recently, upgraded my laptop to a Macbook Pro after using a white Macbook for the past year and was planning to wait until the release of Leopard but couldn't hold off on the upgrade. Since the demonstration of Leopard at MacWorld this summer providing a glimpse into the new functionality I've been eagerly awaiting this upgrade.

At this point the main items that I'm most interested in upgrading to take advantage of include:

Stronger real-time back-up via TimeMachine aided by the new file system
Improved processing and load times with a return to OS 9 speeds
Enhancements to Mail

I will say that AppleInsider has been running a good series of updates on the release of Leopard that offer an interesting history lesson to provide context for this launch and an update on the new features. Here are some useful links:

Mail 3.0
Time Machine
Spaces
Dock
Finder 10.5

I also want to point out a good article from Blackfriars Marketing (a former Forrester analyst) with a passion for Apple who does a solid job outlining the ZFS file system inside Leopard.

Here is a great list of all 300 features in Leopard from Apple's site.

When Leopard launches which at this point remains rumored for October 26th at 6pm (makes sense since its a Friday night) I'll likely go and pickup a copy that night and migrate my Mac. A word of advice before attempting any upgrade make sure you have a full backup of all your files - in case things go wrong!

UPDATE - Looks like its official Macrumors just reported that the launch will be Friday Oct 26th @ 6pm

How to make your iPod a great study tool!

2007-10-12T20:03:00.000-04:00

Students listen up! Here is another use for your iPod and possibly a great way to get your parents to upgrade you to a new iPod with more capacity. My significant other is taking a graduate level university course and records all the lectures due to a hearing impairment. In this case I'll walk you through the quick and easy steps to record your lectures and transfer them to your iPod for on-the-go studying.

In our case we purchase the model that preceded the Panasonic RR-US500 which provides a number of recording options (dictation mode, meeting mode) to date the recordings have been done in dictation mode which seems to somewhat cut down on the ambient noise levels.

Step 1. Go to class and record the lecture (I know this can be the toughest part sometimes :-) )

Step 2. Connect to your Mac or PC and download the lecture. Once the lecture is completed bring home your voice recorder and hook it up via the USB cable that came with the recorder and download it. Most of the voice recorders seem to offer a proprietary software package (unfortunately not Mac compatible) for downloading the recordings in this case they come in a format known as .VM1.
Step 3. Convert lecture file to MP3. Once you've captured the file you should convert the file to WAVE (.wav) format to enable you to transfer the file for use outside the voice editing software (depending on your recorder you may be able to consolidate the number of file conversions - check the web before you buy). The next step is to convert the .wav file to .MP3 to compress the size of the file - for this purpose I use Switch on the Mac. Switch is a great easy to use piece of software. If you want to know why I move the files across platforms in our case its because my Mac is far more powerful and speeds up the conversion process.

Step 4. Import the MP3 file into iTunes. Now that you have an MP3 file its time to import it into iTunes. Launch iTunes and from the File menu and select Import navigate to your file and you're in business.

For ease in terms of finding your lectures in the event that you have a large music library do the following label the file the name of the course and the date of the lecture. For example, Economics201_Oct01.mp3

In iTunes setup a Smart Playlist from the File menu and have it filter on file name (e.g., Economics*) and presto you have a Smart Playlist containing all your lectures for your specific course. This will make it much easier to quickly find your lectures and listen to them on your iPod.

Step 5. Sync your iPod. That's it - now sit back and enjoy the latest lecture as you prepare for your exam.

By the way if you're lucky your university or college may be posting the lectures to iTunesU and you won't have to manage the above process.

Note - in our case my SO seeks out permission of each professor prior to recording the course and has supporting documentation from the University's special needs department. People can be touchy about someone recording the content of their lectures with concerns about reuse - always best to check first then end up with problems. To date there have been no issues and since the recordings aren't being redistributed its not an issue.

iPod touch Thoughts & The Future!

2007-10-09T19:58:00.000-04:00

This is the third post in the series on my experiences and impressions of the iPod touch look here for:
Part 1 and
Part 2.

Ok now that I've lived with the iPod touch for several weeks I thought it would be worth coming back and revisiting some of my initial thoughts on the product

What's great about the touch?

Video Playback & Quality - this remains the biggest key benefit to the device so far in my view is the clear high resolution of the screen and the video playback capability. I've experimented with a variety of content (both podcasts and videos downloaded from our Canon Powershot SD800) and can say that the results are simply great. I haven't witnessed any of the issues mentioned in other reviews about the tone of solid blacks or greys on this device.
Touch Interface - in short "IT ROCKS!" - while the smugs can be annoying nothing can replace the fun of endlessly flipping through pictures, double tapping, pinching and a number of other gestures that you quickly begin to realize this is what a user interface should be.
iPod Functionality - a very solid audio player - definitely an improvement in terms of navigation and listening over previous iPods (the 1G & 2G Nano and the 3G Classic that I've owned).

What's Not So Hot?

Safari & Web browsing in general - by all means this is far more useful than the browsing experience on other handheld devices (e.g., various Blackberries, Palm and Windows mobile phones/PDAs). Web browsing is still fairly limited and I continue to have issues with the touch dropping Wifi signals in areas where other machines are fine (maybe I just got a dud on this count).
Lack of External controls - while this isn't huge its enough of a pain to make my list. For a firm that normally thinks and builds hardware that has a better handle of customer usage scenarios that most others in tech land Apple missed the boat on adding a number of very simple controls to this device.

What to Hope For In A Software Update?
While I've seen others comment and blog on the fact that this isn't an iPhone I think its important to keep in perspective that the iPod touch isn't meant to be a phone. I wouldn't expect Apple to muddy the waters between the different devices by stacking on a number of features that are meant to establish the iPhone as a SmartPhone including - phone, camera, email management. However, there are a number of things that come to mind that could make a good device even better but here are a few thoughts on what could make this a GREAT device.

Open Access to Third Party Developers - I firmly believe that the functionality and innovation that will allow this next generation of iPods/iPhones to be fantastic devices will not come from innovation inside Apple. I think that the native apps included on the device are for the most part but in places feel somewhat rushed (read the missing Add function in the Calendar - although Apple is now calling this a "bug"). My take is that as a community the value of strong third party development brings much more to Apple's customers than the value of having a strongly controlled absolutely crash-proof device (which seems to be one of Apple's key arguments). My point is simply that the market has a clear want for third party apps and there seems to be a willing supply of developers interested in investing the time to work on an interesting new hardware platform. I urge you to click on the following link if you have a DIGG account and add your voice to those asking Apple to do the right thing for their customers.
Inundate Apple with your dissatisfaction

Widgets/Dashboard for iPod touch - One way to make this device far more usable in my mind would be to enable the use of widgets for the look-up of specific information. For example, a number of times I've used the touch to quickly look-up things on the go such as phone numbers, directions and a map. Given that Safari on the Mac can sometimes be a frustrating experience (I remain a committed Firefox user!) and even more so on a smaller device the potential of dedicated Widgets seems to be a much cleaner solution.

Overall, two weeks in I'm happy with my touch and would repeat the purchase and will likely hack the device to add new apps once the iPod Touch dev team cracks it. Based on the latest posts from TUAW.com it looks like they're getting close. Even without the hacks I'd still say for those of us outside the US or even those in the US that simply want a solid portable media device the touch is well worth serious consideration.

A Share In Death By Deborah Crombie - Book Review

2007-10-09T19:10:00.000-04:00

I realize its been a few days since I posted but getting carried away with work and holidays has meant that the blog has been ignored for a couple of days. Here are a couple of posts to make up for the absence.

In searching Amazon for similiar books to M.C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin and Hamish MacBeth series I happened upon Deborah Crombie's Inspector Kincaid series. "A Share in Death" is the first in a series of books by Ms. Crombie following the adventures of Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and Sergeant Gemma James. This novel introduces us to Kincaid in a holiday setting with a vacation at an English countryside resort which operates as a timeshare. Not looking to give too much away, the plot centers around a series of murders that occur over a period of several days. As the residents of the resort are sequestered to the grounds while the police investigates Kincaid takes a break from his vacation and steps forward to pursue the murderer.

Overall, "A Share In Death" offers up a welcome escape with a nicely drafted mystery that works its way through a series of twists, turns and murders in just under 300 pages. I would recommend this book if you're looking for a relaxing read with a well thought-out mystery and a plot that builds to a sound conclusion as Kincaid and James chase down the killer. Not a deep thought book but a good solid read that leaves you looking forward to reading the next adventure of Inspector Kincaid.

Here are a few links on Deborah Crombie:

The official site hosted by the author herself

A short profile over on Who-Dunnit.com

Fun with the iPod touch

2007-09-30T20:45:00.000-04:00

This is the second post in the series on my experiences and impressions of the iPod touch look here for:
Part 1 and
Part 3.

Now that I've iPod touch a couple of days I thought that I'd come back with some further thoughts on the device. Possibly the biggest surprise so far with the device is the use of videos and photos. While I expected to use the regular iPod functions for podcasts and listening to music and the video podcasts the biggest surprise is the use of the pictures. I expected the picture functionality to be somewhat surprisingly

Wifi Interference - I've continued to use the Safari browser and found that it is more useful than the web browser on my Blackberry 8700 (even when accounting for the pathetically slow speeds on an Edge network). The ability to utilize a double tap gesture or a pinch to zoom in on content makes the browsing experience useful. I've also found that generally the keyboard and the interaction with webforms seems to function much better than other portable wireless web surfing on other devices.

More in a bit on this topic as I'll be on the road for the next few days and should be able to experiment on a variety of networks in different environments (e.g., offices, airports, hotels).

Future of Multi-touch
Some interesting thoughts from the future development of multi-touch technlogy from ars techica about some time they spent meeting with Microsoft to review the introduction of its Surface concept tablet computer. Follow the link here. Definitely, multi-touch as an enhancement to existing user interface technologies is going to be a trend in the future. I'd expect that consumer PCs over the next several years will incorporate this technology into PCs. The bigger challenge for this technology to be useful will be to have native touch support built into the operating system to support seamless access across multiple applications.

The Honor System - Perspectives from a Coffee Shop

2007-09-29T10:05:00.000-04:00

I normally wouldn't write about Jack Handy type moments in life but I find the following situation intriguing and positive. I live in a large metropolitan area and work in downtown every morning on my way to work I stop at a certain independent shop for coffee. Since I get into the office relatively early I usually stop by at just before 7 a.m. this is a fairly large store that offers prepared foods, a salad bar, etc... At this time in the morning the staff is busy putting out food and making coffee (they serve 15 different types). Since most of the patrons at that time in the morning are there to pickup a coffee and know the specific prices of the various sizes and items they're purchasing and the store shifts into a mode that seems to represent "the Honor System". By this I mean usually a mound of change begins to form on one of the counters at the back since the cash registers are near the front of the store and the staff is preoccupied. Since each transaction is usually $1 to $2 a pile of money quickly builds on this counter - basically patrons make their own change and settle up. In watching this procedure for a number of months interestingly I haven't seen one person either: leave with product without paying, and/or short change the store.

It's nice to think that even in a large sometimes anonymous city that a system like this actually exists and operates. Maybe things aren't as screwed up as the news makes out and there is more good around you than you realize if you only take time to look for it.

Send me any similar situations and I'll add them to this post.

iPod touch Thoughts in the first 24 hours

2007-09-28T20:36:00.000-04:00

I just picked up a new iPod Touch 16GB model yesterday and wanted to post some initial impressions on the device, and its likely impact on the future direction of consumer music devices. To start this off I'll admit that while I'm an Apple fan in terms of their products I'm not so overwhelmed by them that I can't see the areas that they could improve upon. As I'd rate it the iPod touch is a very capable product that nicely addresses its currently spot in the firm's iPod line-up. It is however a device and the introduction of some technologies that hold the promise for far more useful and exciting devices in the future.

Before we get to the implications let's deal with the here and now. Since there are a number of solid feature function reviews on the web such as the following:

Engadget - review / & unboxing
Macworld's review
iPod lounge review

So we'll give that a pass and focus on giving some quick hits of things that strike me as noteworthy in having worked with the device so far.

Top things to like about the iPod touch

Touch interface - is as seamless and elegant as it shows in the demo on the Apple site. I will say that you need to have a modest amount of patience there is the slightest amount of processor lag at times when its moving a significant amount of content. Generally, though the device is fairly snappy in terms of performance and its hard to tell if the above hesitation related to myself and others getting used to the correct gestures to control the touch.
Bright screen - the quality of the screen in terms of resolution, brightness and contrast help make this device great for viewing vodcasts, movies, etc... I have not experienced any of the brightness issues cited elsewhere on the net (that said my touch shipped with v1.1 of the firmware - which supposedly corrected these issues).
Utility of the onscreen keyboard - I've been pleasantly surprised by the utility of the onscreen keyboard and the ability to type. While its not as quick as a dedicated keyboard similar to a Blackberry it is more than adequate and Apple's version of Suretype helps in terms of offering predictive capabilities in terms of error correction.

Top things that need to be fixed on the iPod touch

Open the development environment - While I realize Apple's reticence to open up their development environment it still seems to be the number one issue slowing down development of a number of useful applications that would increase the utility of the device. You could come up with a long list of useful applications or mini-apps that would increase the value of the touch significantly including: a notepad for quickly scribbling down some thoughts while on the go, information widgets (e.g., weather, news, stocks ...), instant messaging client (while you could argue that communication should be the domain of the iPhone - in my view this is a must add), direct links to other popular websites (e.g., myspace, facebook ...), games (the lack of any basic games shipping with the device that leverage the unique touch interface reflects to me the fact that this device was a bit of a rush job inside Apple). I won't rehash all of the arguments here but I think this post from Will Shipley puts it all into perspective relating to the situation with the iPod touch and iPhone in terms of opening up the development environment to third parties.
Customization of the interface - while this may seem subtle a number of elements that people will want to tackle on these devices in terms of personalizing them are still missing mainly at the Home page level. I realize this is a minor point but the ability to tweak the UI to fit your own style - seems to be a no brainer and was missed this time around. I tend to agree with comments made by others such as Erica Sadun of TUAW

Potential Hitch - Strength of Wifi Signal??? One area of question at the moment is the strength of the Wifi antenna and chipset inside the Touch. I've had some sporadic reception issues here on my home network more so than I have with either of the laptops (Macbook and bare bones PC). I'm on the road again next week and should have a better chance to test it in a variety of settings and see if its just a case of interference here or if this is really an issue. (Please feel free to email if you have any thoughts on this.)

Thoughts about the future from the iPod touch.
My take is that the touch is the first device that provides a strong demonstration of a couple of technologies that are likely to substantially change computing in the coming years.

New interface paradigm. The introduction of a new method of interfacing with PDAs/MP3s/Internet Tablets is about to begin. As we've seen the combination of more abundant solid state storage in the form of NAND, improved high resolution displays and more powerful processors to handle the computing requirements the ability to support direct interaction via touch is now possible. My thoughts are that this will open us up to more flexible, mobile and portable devices allowing us as users to better integrate these devices even further into our lives. For example, who can remember the first Palm device launched in the mid 90s with its rudimentary handwriting recognition that was a step beyond the initial introduction with Apple's Newton.

Convergence of wireless connectivity in a small form factor. Given on-going improvements in wireless internet connectivity both fixed and mobile expect that manufacturers will respond by releasing devices like Nokia's N800

This is the first post in the series on my experiences and impressions of the iPod touch look here for:
Part 2 and
Part 3.

"Cop Hater" by Ed McBain - Book Review

2007-09-26T21:15:00.000-04:00

After finishing "Nocturne" by Ed McBain, I thought that it was worth going back and checking out some of the earlier novels in the 87th Precinct Series. Cop Hater is the first book in the series and provides an interesting introduction by Ed McBain (aka Evan Hunter). Mr. Hunter provides a short background as to the motivation behind the series and the starting point for the development of the 87th Precinct. Interestingly, it sounds as though the publisher at the time was looking to replace an existing author in their stable and approached Mr. Hunter about coming up with a unique concept for an on-going series. Given the success of the 87th Precinct series he clearly hit upon an interesting an different format in terms of having a group of detectives and a station act as the main character in his stories.

Ok enough background - Cop Hater essentially introduces us to the core Detectives in the station Carrella, Bush, (no mention of Fat Ollie Weeks in this novel - we'll just have to see when he gets introduced). The main story line here is that a killer is busy knocking off detectives from the station with the assumption that a "nut" who is a "cop hater" is on the loose. The novel is set in 1950s New York and holds true to the era since McBain wrote the author in 1956. I'm not a huge fan of the 1950s or New York but McBain's solid character development and a relatively solid paced plot keep this book moving. Overall, I plan to move to the next book in the series I sense that McBain is onto something with these characters and the concept of following an entire group of detectives in solving a mystery. I'd rate this one as worth taking up to the cottage and worth a quick skim while sitting by the dock.

Perspectives from "India's Manpower Crunch"

2007-09-24T20:18:00.000-04:00

This months Bloomberg magazine has an interesting article by Abhay Singh and Subramaniam Sharma titled "India's Manpower Crunch". The article details a major potential stumbling block on the road to continued strong GDP growth (>9%) namely the country's problematic education system. Singh and Subramaniam lay out the dilemma that faces India's major firms in recruiting and training enough educated staff to meet demand of their global and domestic customers.

Key points from the article include:

Rapid demand for skilled staff has created an environment of rampant wage inflation where established domestic and international firms are battling for talent. The impact has been an environment of 20%+ wage inflation in 2006 and a turnover rate of 20%+. One example of the direct economic impact is the delay in major infrastructure projects at critical points due to turnover.
No end in sight to wage inflation - with forecasts of 14.5% inflation in 2007
An education system struggling to keep up. The article highlights the lack of a universal education system and a funding scheme where federal and state governments cover a portion of schooling costs contributes to the challenges.

While its clear that there is a dilemma and education is a major challenge to the future of India what is not clear is what the solution is and whether the political will exists to solve these problems.

Key Highlights from Economist & Barron's Week of Sept 23rd

2007-09-23T09:42:00.000-04:00

Just a quick summary of what is in this week's Barron's and the Economist - note this isn't a full review since I opt out of articles that don't drive an investment opportunity:

Barron's Focus this week is on cars

Luxury Car Makers Set to Boom. Pointing to rise in wealth in BRIC nations, aging of North American baby boomers this article highlights that
Tesela - Electric Car. A raving review of the hot electric car with a high price tag ($120K with options) with a waiting list that includes a number of stars (George Clooney, Arnold Schwarchenegger)
BMW Goes Green. An update on the firm's move to get more environmentally friendly on the engine front. The article covers the upside of being more green, the challenges (in ensuring its autos remain high on the performance front) and the downside (the impact of high R&D on margins and net profit).
Peer to Peer Lending. Covers the peer to peer lending business model by profiling Lending Club a Facebook style site that covers the opportunity to invest locally.

The Economist

The World Economy An update on the impact of the 50 basis point rate cut from the US Federal Reserve and the impact of the liquidity issues at Northern Rock in the U.K. Questions are now rising after the euphoric response to the Fed's quick surprise 50bps cut.
Smoking in Asia. A male driven habit with half of the world's loss to smoking driven cancer hit from Asia. A vicious cycle with all Asian governments dependent on tobacco taxes which fund ~10% of government revenues - taxes are low. Points to switching tobacco farms to oils which have strong value. Definitely an interesting article in terms of looking at the opportunity in Asian tobacco.

"The Millionaire Next Door" - Book Review

2007-09-22T13:07:00.000-04:00

I found out about this book after it was highlighted in a recent post on Get Rich Slowly
and since this is a top blog in my mind I decided to pick up a copy from my local library. In fairness to JD and his post it wasn't all about "The Millionaire Next Door" and didn't really highlight what to fully expect from this book.

My overall take is that I'd give "The Millionaire Next Door" a pass given that slugging through 250 pages of dry relatively uninspiring writing leaves you wishing you'd left this book on the shelf at the library. In fairness to Thomas Stanley and William Danko the book was authored in 1996 so some of the findings are fairly old.

Here are the key takeaways from my read of this book:

Live within your means. A number of stories and examples from this book detail the classic example of people with high incomes that struggle to make ends meet. Why? The simple answer is the rampant consumerism that pervades North American society with the need to have a new luxury car, expensive watch, McMansion and more goods that their friends, neighbors and peers. Example after example preaches to readers that not suprisingly the inordinate focus on material goods versus a frugal approach to life.
Economic outpatient care (EOC). I must admit this is a great term from this book that deals with the bad habit of many well off parents that begin the process of offering "one-time" support to their children that quickly turns into an on-going and negatively reinforcing cycle. The basic message here is clear be careful as to how you aid your children since it could have unintended consequences. The other great point from this section is the impact that your lifestyle and spending as a parent imparts on your children.

"Nocturne" by Ed McBain - Book Review

2007-09-21T19:48:00.001-04:00

Another in Ed McBain's series on the 87th precinct "Nocturne" is a great addition to the series and after being somewhat underwhelmed with Hark! this book is a pleasant surprise. Typical of McBain's style in this series its a police procedural set in New York City with no clear timeframe (presumably present to mid 1980s could fit the timing). In an interesting mystery, the detectives at the 87th must track down the killer of an 80 year old former concert pianist and her cat (who unfortunately got in the way). We're lead on a great journey as Detectives Carella, Hawes, Kling and Fat Ollie Weeks track down the killer. As the story opens with the call out going out to Carella and Hawes to come and check the crime scene we start on a journey to find the killer.

This novel also follows another major storyline with what turns out to be a triple homicide of a drug dealer, a prostitute and her pimp. McBain lays out a gritty series of scenes and we see Fat Ollie Weeks chase down the clues to find the unlikely killers (yes, killers!).

Bottom line - this is a solid mystery and I'm now convinced that its worth investing the time in picking up more of the 87th Precinct series novels and following the adventures. Nocturne avoids the gratuitous subplots that kept cropping up and annoying me in Hark! and is a straight up hard driving mystery - well worth a read.

I'm still working on trying to refine my style in terms of providing you with great mystery reviews without revealing too much - email me at the address above and let me know what I could improve.

Want to learn more about Ed McBain's novels - here are a few useful links:
http://www.coffeewithcrime.blogspot.com/ Here is a great site with lots of back information on Ed McBain along with some links to articles that offer interviews with him prior to his passing away.
http://www.edmcbain.com/ The official site.

"Hot Commodities" by Jim Rogers - Book Review

2007-09-17T19:31:00.000-04:00

I'm starting to clear through some of the backlog on the books that were recently read that are worthy of posting about. "Hot Commodities: How Anyone Can Invest Profitability In The World's Best Market" by Jim Rogers published in 2003 by Random House picks up where Jim left off in his previous two books "Investment Biker" and "Adventure Capitalist". In earlier books, he hinted at being bullish on commodities but this book lays out for the average investor his thesis and rationale behind a focus on commodities.

True to form, Rogers covers the world of commodities investing in his own unique style describing the basics of investing in commodities and the cyclical nature of these markets.
He covers a range of commodities markets including: Gold, Steel, Nickel/Base Metals, Sugar, and Coffee. In each of these areas he provides his own macro view of supply and demand and makes the case for the respective commodity. Many of his comments highlight the increase in demand from BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) nations which a particular focus on China as a major driver of commodity demand over the coming decades. He also provides an interesting review of facts relating to the lack of supply and under investment in sustaining the supply capability for various commodities.

Overall, Jim Rogers is a highly entertaining author and talented investor that offers some useful insights to investors in terms of the unconventional way in which he approaches investing opportunities. Mr. Rogers is truly a pioneer of what is now termed "global macro" investing although he himself admits that he doesn't think of it in those terms. Rather, he focuses on finding solid investment ideas anywhere in the world, regardless of asset class. He is supposed to be releasing an upcoming book detailing his investment view towards China according to Amazon titled "A Bull in China: Investing Profitably in the World's Greatest Market" scheduled for release in December this year.

http://www.jimrogers.com/ Mr. Rogers' website provides further details regarding his previous books (Highly Recommended) and his part round the world adventures.

Bottom line = This is a great book that leverages Jim Rogers easy reading style and covers the opportunities in investing in commodities. Views are interesting while the data points are somewhat dated given the 2003 publication date. If you're into investing and want to get a take on commodities or even an interesting perspective on the impact that they have on other asset classes give this book a read.

"Hark" by Ed McBain - Book Review

2007-09-16T20:42:00.000-04:00

I'm a big fan of long run serials since I really enjoy following the work
of my favorite mystery writers (MC Beaton, Lee Child, Harlan Coben, Michael Connelly, Janet Evanovich, Elmore Leonard) was the reason behind my picking up "Hark".

"Hark", details the adventures of a group of detectives in the 87th precinct in New York as they track a killer known as the "deaf man". Though 300 pages we're lead on a chase by the "deaf man" as the detectives in this police procedural attempt to figure out and prevent his next crime. In general core story line is solid as the detectives work their way through what seems like a never ending stream of coded clues that reveal the "deaf man's" dark intentions. The character development is top notch and the main story line is easy to read. My only complaint is that the story branches off to follow the activities of each of main characters creating at times a few too many subplots for my taste.

In general, I came away intrigued enough to pickup another in the 87th precinct series "Nocturne". I'll have a read and give you an update as to whether this group of characters grows on me.

Bottom line - "Hark" is worth throwing in the suitcase if you're headed for a trip and want a book to distract you.

"Inside the House of Money" by Steve Drobny - Book Review

2007-09-16T19:17:00.000-04:00

Inside the House of Money (ITHOM) is a 2006 book by Steve Drobny a former hedge fund salesperson at Deutsche Bank. I picked this title up through a series of Amazon searches to find other interesting investment and personal finance titles. In ordering this book from my local library, my expectation was that ITHOM would be a look at the world of hedge funds by Drobny with his view on their impact on the financial world. While, he does provide some insight into his view on hedge funds ITHOM is a much more interesting read in that it is a book that covers approximately 10 interviews with leading hedge fund managers.

The focus of this book is on covering different investment styles and techniques used by hedge funds that are best classified as "global macro" funds. By "global macro" the common thread is that each fund looks globally and isn't restricted to a specific country, asset (e.g., bonds, currencies, equities) or style in the pursuit of absolute returns. The macro in the title refers to a macroeconomic view or a view towards a global/broader trend that the fund is seeking to exploit. A number of the interviews stood out in my mind as being worth picking up a copy of ITHOM including:

The Pioneer - Jim Rogers = this interview alone is worth the price of admission in typical Rogers style he bluntly lays forth his views on the world and key investment opportunities. In 2006, Rogers was continuing the discussion from his last book "Hot Commodities" and his interest in China two key themes for the coming decade. Mr. Rogers, has an irreverent style that makes for easy reading and provides some interesting insights.

The Family Office - Jim Leitner - a former hedge fund manager who now runs money for his own family.

The Prop Trader - Christian Siva-Jones (Semper Macro) = former head trader for Goldman Sachs proprietary trading desk. He offers a unique look into the operations of a major proprietary trading desk and the challenges of running such an operation.

The Dot Comer - Mr. Thiel = prior to starting his firm Clarium Capital - he founded and ran Pay Pal taking the firm from start-up through to its eventual sale to eBay. An interesting article with a portfolio manager returning to his roots running an investment firm after starting a highly successful technology venture.

Overall, I would highly recommend picking up a copy of ITHOM if you're interesting in investing and the impact that hedge funds are having on the worldwide financial system. ITHOM provides the reader with a unique insight into the workings of global macro hedge funds.

Note - I had to drop the book back to the library early so this review is somewhat truncated there are some good ideas in this text that I haven't fully covered.

Simplicity/Productivity - Maybe its time to ditch Microsoft Word

2007-09-11T19:34:00.000-04:00

If you're like me a lot of time when you are looking to just get some basic writing done you're likely finding those "great" productivity features increasingly intruding and slowing you down. While a full featured word processor is extremely useful for dressing up documents they just seem to bog you down when all you really want to do is blast out that text.

Here's my suggestion whether you're on Windows or Mac OS/X = pull out your favorite basic text editor TextEdit on the Mac or WordPad on Windows and put an alias/shortcut on your dock/launch bar. For about a week try this experiment when you're looking to craft some basic text (<3 pages = which depending on your job is likely the bulk of your writing) then use that text editor as your work space. I've found that my ability to get things done has increased significantly as it takes away the annoying features which were meant to improve your experience and justify a software vendor continuing to invest in polishing software that was largely good enough.

Give it a shot and let me know how it works out.

Look at your bookshelves => Make some cash, reduce clutter at home & maximize return from your local taxes.

2007-09-10T19:17:00.000-04:00

While the above might sound like a lot - I can assure you that is exactly what you can accomplish if you decide to take a good long look at your bookshelf at home. If you're like me you accumulated a dearth of books all around your home that in many cases have only ever been read once. Several years ago, I decided it was time to try and consolidate my book collection and set about culling my personal library. Here is how I went about this transformation.

Step 1. Time to Purge = I started going through our books and piling all those that I hadn't looked at in the last year into one grouping. My culling was thorough and ruthless this is not a time to reflect on how it would be great to go through this book - there is likely a reason you haven't read it yet. My simple advice is put it in the "to go" pile.

Step 2. Time to Sort = Once you've accumulated a pile of books to go you're best to start by identifiying all those books that can be sold. Through my process I discovered that Amazon for the most part has the most active marketplace for reselling books on the Net which is part of the reason that their fees are so dear. My experience indicated that you're best to check out the available stock already listed on the site you can get a gauge for the prices that others are asking for similiar texts. My goal was clear to recoup some cash but primarily to be rid of books that were just taking up space - with that objective in mind I set about putting my books on Amazon as the lowest priced offering in their respective used category. The way Amazon sets up its book sales is that you're paid a flat fee for delivery of ~$7.00 so its worth checking online with your post office to get a sense of the various shipping rates around the country. If you're like me it will end up taking a while to clear the backlog of unused books but once you receive that first payment you'll find your resolve to get rid of these books moves higher.

Step 3. Dust off that library card = The biggest and best change that we made was the decision to maximize our use of our local public library. When I look at the amount that I pay in local property taxes in my city and the services available to me - I was surprised that we hadn't taken action earlier. Over the past few years, I have become a big user of the library getting books and DVDs = allowing me to explore new topics, revisit classics all the while save money and reduce clutter at home.

What are you waiting for - start shedding those excess books.

Ready for that new iPod - how to monetize that old iPod

2007-09-09T20:37:00.000-04:00

With Apple's launch this past week of a newly revised iPod line-up in time for the holidays I thought it was worthy of pointing out a couple of tips about your existing iPod. Given that you may be looking to upgrade your iPod here are some suggestions about what to do with your old one.

Sell it on eBay or Craigslist. I have moved an old iPod on eBay and found that competition in this case for a fairly new iPod meant that I got a great price and didn't mind forking over the auction/listing fees to eBay. I'd only recommend this move if your iPod is a more desirable model
Apple will give you a discount. "A free iPod recycling program, conducted through Apple’s retail stores, offers environmentally friendly disposal and a 10 percent discount on the purchase of a new iPod." see here for more details http://www.apple.com/environment/recycling/
Unfortunately, If you're not buying through an Apple store then no discount but you can still get Apple to recycle your dead device which is a plus for our environment.
Donate it to a friend or family member. In certain cases if the iPod is not in primo condition to eBay and doesn't have a dead battery or component (thus not worth handing back to Apple for a discount on your new iPod) then this may be a good option to consider.

Personally, I'll be using Apple's retail store discount when I upgrade to a iPod Touch since one of the Nano's that I have has a near dead battery.

Any other ideas on saving on your new iPod - leave them in the comments.

Personal Finance Software for the Mac

2007-09-09T09:41:00.000-04:00

The key hassle that hit when the Wheaten moved back to the Mac a year ago where Windows continues to hold a meaningful advantage is Personal Finance software. A keen devotee to managing his money both daily spending and investments the Wheaten is a firm believer in the power of using a PC to help track and manage his spending. The goal in shifting back to the Mac was to get away from many of the hassles involved in owning and operating a Windows based PC (e.g., viruses, firewall, klunky software that doesn't behave properly - the list goes on). In general the transition back to the Mac has been relatively painless with music, pictures, and other documents all migrating seamlessly. The one area that seamingly lags far behind the Windows world is the area of personal finance software.

Thus the Wheaten started an on-going quest for a solution to his financial software woes - for the most part Mac efficiandos have tended to really only push vendors for very basic financial management software with Quicken dominating the landscape. Unfortunately Intuit, normally a forward thinking company that has done a great job over the years in helping develop this category and create user friendly personal finance software is the dominant player in this market. While Quicken for Mac comes bundled with most new Macs the Wheaten's advice is that if you live outside the U.S. you might as well remove this app since they're no longer supporting country specific versions (at least in Canada). In addition if you're a Quicken user on the PC the disparity in features between the two versions is wide and noticeable leading you to hair pulling frustration. Thus started what should have been a simple journey the options for personal finance software on the Mac come down to the following:

MoneyDance = a multiplatform product that offers Linux, PC, and Mac versions of the software. This is the product the Wheaten ultimately migrated to and offers a fairly robust set of features covering budgeting, bill management, investments, reporting. In using MoneyDance over the past 18 months and evaluating a number of alternatives this product still manages to hit most of the Wheaten's requirements but does come up short in terms of the sophistication of the Investment management functionality (that said relative to the PC none of the Mac products really seams to have gotten investments as a category). Overall, the open source nature of MoneyDance's product means that there is a fairly lively community on Yahoo Groups! and hosted on MoneyDance's own forums for support. The product team at MoneyDance seems committed to improving the product and has significantly improved the reporting engine in the most recent release. Downloads from a large list of financial institutions are supported and for those that aren't the ability to import files in .OFX (a widely supported file format used by most financial institutions) is available.
http://www.moneydance.com

Other apps that were explored and dismissed as being caught somewhere in the middle of being basic but frustrating to use were: LiquidLedger; iBank; and Moneywell.

Cha-Ching = an interesting product that offers a basic metaphor for managing your money could be a great alternative for the novice user that is looking for basic expense tracking and budgetting. Having not spent a lot of time with the demo the Wheaten has not tested the functionality relating to the ease of downloads from your financial institution. An inexpensive product at $40 that is ideal for those looking to cleanup their desks and better manage the flow of day to day household expenses.
http://www.midnightapps.com/

Other options - at the end of the day you could leave your personal finances on a Windows based machine and manage this via use of virtualization software such as Parrallels or VMWare for the Mac. However, in the Wheaten's view this negates many of the benefits of migrating to the Mac and in his case the need really only to run one operating system on his Macbook. For now the Wheaten is sticking with MoneyDance the most advanced of the Financial Software apps for the Mac. However he remains frustrated at the fairly rudimentary
nature of the investment functions in most Mac software.

What are you using to manage your personal finances on the Mac?

What the Wheaten is reading? Aug/07 Edition

2007-09-08T20:09:00.001-04:00

The Wheaten is an avid reader that enjoys a range of fiction and non-fiction genres including business, biographies, mysteries, how-to books on a variety of topics. The Wheaten typically goes through 2 books a week as he has plenty of time of reading while his humans go about their business. The list below is a synopsis of some of his most recent reads. All ratings are from 0 (Oh boy that was bad) to 5 (Fantastic).

He always like suggestions on great books to read so feel free to leave a comment.

Bad luck and trouble by Lee Child
Mystery Fiction 4.5
Reacher reunites with his old team to solve the murder of their former squad mates.

Adventure Capitalist by Jim Rogers
Business Non-Fiction 4.5
Great book in terms of learning about the world various countries, chronicling a fantastic journey with interesting financial/economic perspectives

Investment Biker by Jim Rogers
Business Non-Fiction 4.5
Classic as it is the first round the world adventure by Rogers not as exciting as book two but still well written and engaging. Rogers has a great why of thinking about macro events and the prospects for various countries from an on the ground view.

Absolut : biography of a bottle by Carl Hamilton
Business Non-Fiction 4.0
Neat story about how Absolut came to the market and became an icon in the liquour industry and popular culture.

How to sell anything to anybody by Joe Girard
Business Non-Fiction 3.5
A few good tips about how to sell in the context of consumer products despite an author that is at times overbearing.

The accidental investment banker by Jonathan Knee
Business Non-Fiction 4.0
Unique perspective on investment banking from former Goldman and Morgan banker that grew up through the 1990s in the Media sector.

The Google story by David Vise
Business Non-Fiction 3.5
A useful and quick read that provides a profile of the formation of Google through to ~ mid 2005 covering a range of topics from start-up, IPO, innovation, new product introduction etc…

What's on the Wheaten's Mac?

2007-09-08T18:55:00.001-04:00

In returning to the Mac last year, after a fourteen year absence from the platform the Wheaten found lots of familiar elements that drove the switch away from Windows. As well as a significantly enhanced operating system in OSX that makes the experience much more stable and less frustrating than living in the Windows world. This post will provide a list of some of the better applications that the Wheaten has on his Macbook with the best part being that a large number of these apps are open source!

Text Editing
Skim - every wanted a more advanced version of the native Preview.app included with your Mac? Well Skim is the app for you with the ability to highlight, outline and better annotate PDFs Skim is a must have for students, researchers or anyone that needs to read and manage PDFs.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/skim-app

Utilities
Firefox = an alternate browser for your Mac and open source. A must have for any Mac user since you still need two browsers given that Safari still doesn't always work well with others.
http://en.www.mozilla.com/en/firefox/

iStumbler = the easiest way to check-out the available Wifi networks in range and get all the relevant details about the network. iStumbler is much stronger than the the native Airport Manager that is built into OSX making life on the go much easier. Two Paws Up!
http://www.istumbler.net/

TextWrangler = need to edit and manipulate text files on your Mac or quickly manage .txt or other text based files then look no further. TextWrangler allows the Wheaten to make short work of manipulating text files. Another free tool that should be on your Mac.
http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/index.shtml

Seashore = a free image editor that allows you to handle many of the basics that go beyond the simple tools in iPhoto but is short of the overkill that Photoshop represents for many users. Seashore is a GIMP based open source editor that has been modified to run on the Mac and may prove handy in those situations when a photo needs a bit more extensive touching up.
http://seashore.sourceforge.net/

Chicken of the VNC = allows Mac users to setup remote access to between their Mac and other computers. Very handy for helping a friend out with fixing their computer.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/cotvnc/

SuperDuper! = remember to backup your Mac or any computer for that matter. Until Leopard arrives SuperDuper is a must - there is a free version and a more feature rich product for a modest upgrade fee.
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/

MenuMeters = a handy tool that installs in system preferences and displays on the upper menu of your Mac showing a variety of system data (e.g., hard drive space, CPU utilization, memory management and much more). Definitely worth a download.
http://www.ragingmenace.com/software/menumeters/#intro

In all fairness to Apple a number of small lesser known apps that come bundled with OSX definitely deserve mention and use given the ease of use and their ability to boost your productivity.

Image Capture = useful for quickly importing pictures to your Mac. Also the Wheaten uses Image Capture to download his pictures and rename the files before importing into iPhoto.

Automator = a great addition that allows the novice Mac user to record a macro and have your system manage routine or repetitive tasks. This was one of the biggest positive surprises for the Wheaten upon his return to the Mac.

TextEdit = A built-in basic word processor included with your Mac well worth putting on your dock. The Wheaten has taken to writing in TextEdit on the Mac and WordPad on Windows as a means of boosting productivity (more on this in a future post).