JT Blog

Comcast+Tivo almost go

My coworkers and I are quite excited about the imminent rollout of the Comcast Tivo service, which will run on Motorola set-top boxes with dual HD tuners. Downsides: no networking (yeah, that hurts), no Live Guide. Upsides: search functionality not yet available on standalone Tivo boxes, and a nominal monthly fee rather than the exorbitant $650 + service fee you will pay for a Series3. Hopefully the Spring deployment will include the Chicago market.

Impression management and the web

On the radio today, I heard about a new company called Reputation Defender. The idea is that potential associates, whether they be employers, friends, dates, etc., will Google you and try to learn something about you from the online artifacts that have some association with your name. At best, they affect a first impression. At worst, they keep you out of jobs/dates/friendships.

I was talking about this the other day with a coworker - are Google/MySpace/Facebook all we really need now to see our online "impression"? Certainly, if those are the tools others will use to see us, it stands to reason that managing what we see on our vanity searches is all we should have to do. If so, then a pay-per-month service like that mentioned above seems to serve a flimsy sort of need. The Reputation Defender site uses FAQs like this:

Are you really better at “Searching” the Internet for content than the typical tech-savvy person?
Yes. We're very good. So are Human Resources Departments and university admissions committees and many other people who might want to learn about you. Our clients are usually surprised at what we find.

In truth, I'm a bit skeptical - do these places really go that far beyond Google?

New host: Bluehost

In anticipation of losing my CMU account privileges, I decided to move my web and mail over to Bluehost. The cost is reasonable, and you can configure just about everything using a little control panel app that runs in any browser. You also get an SQL server, ability to run php/cgi/cron jobs, and around 3gb of space for basic service. Let's see how it goes.

SDA in my ear

Ever since the lid of my Treo 300 snapped off, I've been looking for a new, non-flipping phone that could sync with Outlook, fit in my pocket, and even do web stuff without extra $$ on my plan. The T-mobile SDA seems to fit the bill. I got it yesterday and I'm pretty happy with the product. Going from a QWERTY phone to non-QWERTY takes some adjustment, and the little joystick on the SDA requires quite a bit of dexterity. But the Wi-fi is great (you can use it on any access point, not just T-mobile hot spots), and the Bluetooth syncing, once you get it working (see below), is like magic. Battery life, voice clarity, and UI are good, although the PalmOS UI of the Treo I would rate more highly. The biggest downside is T-mobile's coverage, which pales in comparison to my old Sprint PCS service.

Just a note here on Bluetooth: I wanted to add a paragraph here just in case anyone else has issues getting ActiveSync to work on a Toshiba laptop (mine is a Tecra M4). First, I highly recommend removing Toshiba's included Bluetooth stack using Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel. Next, you'll need to install the Microsoft Bluetooth stack, but you actually get it from Toshiba's site. Now reboot - that's important. When it starts back up, your laptop should recognize a new device and download the proper drivers from MS. Now run the Bluetooth manager (Control Panel ->Printers and Other Hardware), add an incoming COM port from the phone (make sure it's discoverable), and you should be ready to go.
Some useful links:

• How to install or switch Bluetooth stacks on Toshiba laptops
• Bluetooth Monitor for MS Stack from Toshiba's site

Interplay's strange saga

Interplay Entertainment, beloved developers of Baldur's Gate, Battle Chess, Wasteland, and, nearest and dearest to my heart, the Bard's Tale series, have been circling the drain for a while now. It appears now that they are being forced from their building and haven't paid their employees in a while. Sad news for such a historically important company, but it happens to the best of them.

More history of Interplay here.