Viewsonic G-Tablet

I will be posting a lot of content about my new-found love; the Viewsonic G-Tablet. This device is phenomenal. I can't come up with a better word to describe this device. Running Nvidia's Tegra 2 processor with 512 MB RAM (PERFECT for running Flash, btw) and 16GB built-in memory along with a Micro-SD slot, full-size USB port for thumb drives/mice/keyboards/etc, Mini-USB for file transfer and connection to the computer, and a proprietary port for HDMI out.

I have been posting a number of videos on Youtube regarding this tablet, so I'll post one of those videos here now. I will likely post them all here as well, but for now, here's the latest video.

Goodbye, Walkman

Last week, Sony announced the death of the Walkman. As someone over 40, I remember the birth of it quite well.

The early 80's were a time of fun. They were also a time for great music. New Wave and Punk took off in the late 70's and reached their potential in the 80's. Rock music was yielding to Hair bands and metal, and soul was moving into rap. The cassette tape was quickly becoming the medium of choice for high school kids wanting their own soundtrack, and the boom boxes were born.

There were a few problems with the boom boxes, though. First, was the size. They really were pretty darned big (and some got HUGE). Then there was the cost; they weren't cheap. Then, to add to it, they took huge D-cell batteries which were expensive and didn't last all that long. I remember a kid in high school who carried his boom box with him everywhere he went. He always had it in class with him, obediently keeping it off to keep from having it seized and sent to the office. Oddly enough, the kid never got it taken away, and only played it (at a low volume) at lunch and before/after school.

The utility of having your own music with you was not lost on us kids. We all wanted that, but what we didn't want was to have to carry a suitcase-sized device with us everywhere we went. Then came the Walkman.

The Walkman was the first viable portable music device. Batteries were still not nearly as good as they are today, so keeping a Walkman working was quite expensive, but to have your own music, on cassette, with you at all times? Why, that was priceless!

I got my first SONY Walkman when I graduated from Marine Boot Camp in 1987. I bought it at the exchange within hours of graduating. I had made a point of making it the first thing I purchased with my first official paycheck. It cost me around $150, but I didn't care. It was cool, it was small, and it was mine.

That SONY Walkman lasted me at least 15 years. The last time I saw it, it was in my daughter's bedroom, and she was using it (this was about 7 years ago). I'm sure it's still around somewhere, buried in some closet or at the bottom of some box.

When the iPod was released nine years ago, the second-to-last nail was placed in the Walkman's coffin. It wasn't until last week that it was truly nailed shut, thrown into a hole in ground, and covered up with six feet of dirt. Regardless, the Walkman will always hold a special place in my music-loving heart as the first truly portable music player.

Apple as Big Brother

There's an excellent post on Gizmodo about how Apple has turned into the very thing they advertised against 25 years ago in their iconic "Big Brother" commercials. Back in the 80's, the commercials were aimed at IBM, then the world's largest PC and computer maker. Today, IBM is bigger in point-of-sale machines and business servers than in PC's, and companies like HP, Dell, and Gateway are leaders in the PC market. Apple, however, is making up for lost time through their iPhone, iPad, and Mac notebooks.

Their latest step into making more money, the Mac App Store, feels more and more like big brother and less like the company Apple wanted to be way back when. They are closed, rife with censorship, and more tightly controlling than any other company on the planet (save for some defense contractors, but I think Apple gives them a run for their money).

I won't go into everything that the article on Gizmodo goes into, but suffice it to say, I'm still shying away from any future Apple purchases, and the latest step by Apple with their Mac App Store more firmly cements my distaste for their business practices.

Sharpie Liquid Pencils: Yes, they get permanent (after a while!)

I bought a box of these the moment I read on Engadget that they were available. I started using them on August 17th, and while they were not permanent within three days as advertised, I would go back and test erasing week by week. I keep a journal for work of all calls made, meetings attended, and I also keep a task list in my Moleskine planner, so it's perfect for just this type of unscientific testing.

Finally, this week, as I went back to erase marks made on August 17th, they appear to be permanent. What is interesting to me is that when you write with the Sharpie Liquid Pencil, it's very erasable, and after a few days, it's still mostly erasable, but after a month and a half, it's permanent, as if written by pen.

My conclusion: it appears that the Sharpie Liquid Pencils are permanent after about a month and a half.

All Things Android

I've been enjoying all things Android for the past two months with the HTC Evo 4G on Sprint. Having been a smartphone user since WinMo 3, and having skipped the iPhone hype due to a severe distaste for all things arrogant, moving into Android has been quite an experience, indeed.

I will say that being a computer/gadget geek definitely helps with the transition into Android, but it's not necessary. I could see the average user moving into Android with little or no problem. Used a computer before? Then Android will make sense. Never used a computer? That's okay too. It'll still make sense, only there'll be a tiny bot of a learning curve as you would with any smartphone. These are SMARTphones, afterall.

The phone I had prior to the Evo was the beautiful and under-appreciated Palm Pre with WebOS. I absolutely loved that phone, but the lack of development for WebOS (it's all about getting apps, right?) and the uncertain future (this was prior to HP's purchase of Palm) led me to flee the platform and move onto what I felt was the best hope for openness, free-market capitalism, and altogether awesomeness. That led me to Android.

It appears that I wasn't the only one. Year to date, Android has grown over 800% in the number of people buying Android phones. Apparently ,by 2012, Android will overtake Apple in total number of smartphones. The big loser here: RIM. The big winner here: Consumers. Android is available on all kinds of phones, from legitimate phones made by companies like Motorola and HTC and even companies in China who make cheap (and sometimes actually decent) knock-off's of popular mainstream phones. What this does is make Android available no matter where you look, no matter what hardware manufacturer you prefer, or regardless of your carrier. It also makes moving things from one Android phone to another at upgrade/change time more convenient. Epic win.

Have you made the change to an Android phone? If so, how do you like it?

As the title says...

I AM the worst kind of geek. I play with my geek toys, buy new notebook computers and other neat and fun gadgets, and then I don't write about them.

The reasons for my lack of posting are many, and include things like new job/promotion, buying a new house, selling old house, kids getting cars (and requiring me to service said cars), and holidays. Are these excuses? Yes, but they are also the reasons for my lack of posting (which is okay, since I have at the time of this writing ONE follower, and she lives with me, so she pretty much knows what's going on anyway).

So, back to Geekdom.

I am the worst kind of geek. Reason #34: I only recently (well, in November) discovered the joy and beauty that is Firefly. Yes, dear reader (hi Sherry!), as a true geek, I was not whole until I embraced the Whedonverse and plunged hook, line, and sinker into the abyss that is Firefly. To make matters worse, I didn't plunge alone; I took my son and later my wife with me (both of whom both love and hate me for getting them hooked on the doomed show). With each passing episode, my son and I would look at each other and exclaim, "That was AWESOME! I can't believe they canceled this!" and then we would count down how many more were left for us to watch.

Interestingly, I saw Serenity (the movie) first. I thought it was a good movie, but not a great movie. I had no context, and to me, the characters were just characters I didn't care too much about. The story was pretty decent, but again, nothing to write home about. BUT... oh my good Lord... then it happened. I watched all 14 episodes of Firefly and then re-watched Serenity. Now I understand COMPLETELY what the reviewers and critics all said; it's an okay movie if you haven't seen Firefly, but a GREAT movie if you've seen the TV series. Sure, it's no Dostoevsky, but it is most definitely entertaining and a fitting albeit somewhat premature finale to the series (or is it?)

I've now seen every episode twice, and I'm working on my third viewing, having started last night with the Pilot and The Train Job. Of course, if you watched these episodes with the DVD commentary, you'd know that the Pilot aired last, and that The Train Job had to act as a sort of impromptu pilot, so there's a lot of exposition in The Train Job that seems redundant in a second episode, but given that Firefly was never really given a fighting chance to begin with, in postscript, it only makes sense in a sick way.

I could go on and on about the characters, the acting, the writing, the sets, the costumes, the universe, etc, but it's all been said before. As a matter of fact, I'm reading a book where people write about Firefly and Serenity and how important, ground-breaking, earth-shattering, genre-bending, etc Firefly was.

I know from reading around the Interwebs that everyone on the cast is up for more Firefly when and if it ever happens. I know that there's a campaign afoot to send blue gloves to (Fox, Paramount, or Universal; I forget which) in an effort to show that there are loyal Browncoats out there who would watch more episodes. Personally, I'd LOVE to see more, and I'd watch them like a kid watches Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer at Christmas, but I'd like to see it on Syfy (the network formerly known a SciFi Channel). I think that Syfy would allow more creative license and would allow for Nathan Fillion to continue his full-time gig as Richard Castle on ABC's new hit dramedy "Castle" while allowing him to then do the off-season revival of Firefly. Of course, this assumes that Nathan (and other members of the cast already gainfully employed) have nothing better to do in their off-season time than make Firefly for my viewing pleasure, but hey, can't a geek dream here? This also assumes that there are enough Browncoats out there who will actually send in the gloves (as if that could work... who knows?). I think DVD sales of Firefly and Serenity have a better chance of convincing anyone with money to invest in putting it back on the air, but that's just the wannabe business-minor in me talking (or writing... you know).

Which brings me to a few final points.

First, watch Firefly if you haven't done so already. Download it and after you've watched it (and fell in love with it), go and buy it. Nothing speaks louder to Hollywood than dollars.

Second, if you become a Browncoat (fan of Firefly), send the gloves. It's fun. It's activism. It's being a part of something bigger than yourself. And it just might help tip the scales.

Third, and this is a big one for me, evangelize Firefly. It's too good of a series to let die. The actors and writers are still young enough to pick it up and carry it onward. The more people who get into the show creates a bigger audience, and then, well, refer to my first final point. Then, I think, you'll get the picture.

Postscript. What tipped me over the edge from liking Firefly to loving Firefly? The fact that it made me want to be a Browncoat. Not in the literal sense, but in the sense that I wanted to be someone who would be like Mal. As a kid, when I watched Star Wars, I thought that he was a troublemaker and a terrorist. He and his band of misfits took down the government for some utopian love-fest (okay, I didn't really get to thinking that way until I was well into my 30's, but let a geek ramble here). When I played Star Wars Galaxies (an immensely entertaining and fulfilling MMO that was also changed and in my opinion, killed off for the mindless gameplay style of WoW), I played as an Imperial, a member of the Empire. I could empathize more with the Empire than I could with the Rebels. In Firefly, there's no way you can empathize with the Alliance. They are everything that's wrong and bad. The Empire in Star Wars? They were "evil" according to Luke and Leia, but it turns out that it wasn't the government that was evil so much as it was just Darth Vader and the Emperor. And even then, they were just frustrated and disfigured old men who couldn't get laid. I could be a member of the Empire; I could never be a member of the Alliance.

Browncoats unite!

Browncoats forever!

Disclaimer: this post in no way implies that I've lost my mind, became obsessed with Firefly, or have a man-crush on Nathan Fillion. I think Nathan does a fine job as an actor, but that's as far as I like him. Yes, only as an actor. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Tonido Plug

The wait is over; I finally got my Tonido Plug yesterday, courtesy of the UPS.

I plugged it in and was impressed by how easy it was to get running. I didn't have to hunt around my network (which consists of over 16 devices already) for the Plug; I just went to the url contained in the documentation and was able to get it up on my network and all preliminary setup info set in just a few short minutes.

The biggest surprise for me was the fact that I was able to move a USB drive from my PC to the Plug by just plugging it in. It recognized the NTFS file system and all the folders/files, and served it up in no time. I have a 1TB drive on its way (due to arrive on Thursday) but I wanted to start "playing" with the Plug today. I backed up the data from the USB drive expecting the Plug to format/delete it when I connected it. Imagine my surprise when not only did it not ask to format the new drive, but it found everything on the USB drive and served it right up! I was able to set up a share from my PC to the USB drive in a few short moments, and now it's as if the USB drive is still attached to my system.

Speed is impressive. The Plug and all of the apps on it are very responsive and fast. I am most impressed with the torrent app. It is very fast, very easy to use, and very efficient. I tested it today with a few torrents, and the results have been stellar.

I have Tonido App installed onto two PC's in the house and have yet to attach them to the Plug via a group. I don't know what the benefit of that would be, yet, but I am learning.

I highly recommend getting a Plug. It's incredibly fast, easy to configure and use, and will use a lot less power than my PC did staying on 24/7 (serving up shares for the family). I connected a spare powered USB hub to it and connected two external USB HD's to it. Once I get a 1TB drive, that will give me nearly 1.5TB of storage capability. That's enough to make a geekboy hum with glee!

Check out Tonido Plug at www.tonidoplug.com.