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Twitter in Live Video

April 6, 2008 at 1:03 am · in Video · Comments

Jaap Stronks from The Netherlands has quite an interesting mashup, but one with a purpose: Twitter and live video!

Just wanted to share that I’ve been experimenting with live webvideo myself; I was particularly interested in integrating relevant Twitter messages realtime in a live video, something you may be interested in. At the Next Web Conference in Amsterdam, I produced an interview with Robert Scoble, which I broadcasted in Ustream with added backchannel tweets as a video overlay. If you’re interested in the result, you can watch it here (I simultaneously recorded it with Quicktime), although the web page is in Dutch, the video is of course English:

www.jaapstronks.nl/archief/twittercasting-met-robert-scoble/

If you’re interested in the method I used: I use Adium with the Twitter IM function (with a separate account with no friends, only tracking a certain hash code) and a message layout with big white letters and a black screen, plus Camtwist with a desktop video source (custom area) with a chroma key on black, so that only the letters remain visible. I should add a black semi-opaque rectangle to make the letters more easily readible, that’s for next time.

This was just a first video after a couple of tests, I’m thinking of producing a regular live show, perhaps interviewing people using video conference calling services. I just wanted to share this with you because I thought you might find it interesting. I’m now going to dive into your blog and see what things and ideas you’ve come up with.

I keep telling everybody that the WHOLE point of doing LIVE video is that you can interact with your audience - and vice versa.

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What’s the Most Painful thing You’ve ever Experienced?

April 4, 2008 at 4:18 pm · in Media Blog, Health · Comments (38)

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I can’t stand pain. I have a very low threshold for pain, and cannot tolerate it whatsoever. I used to be called the “Tazmanian Terror” when I had to get a shot as a kid. Matt sent in the following tips to help us all deal with pain a little better.

  • Eat lots of veggies and fruits, and drink lots of water and 100% juice. All this does is makes you healthier and stronger, and being healthy could help in suppressing pain.
  • Make yourself very observant. If you fall while jogging and skin your knee, concentrate on something else besides anything directly or indirectly associated with the pain. Maybe a nice Chysler drove by. Focus on that and take in its beauty. Before you know it, you won’t feel the pain as much, and you can walk home and treat your injury.
  • Give yourself an oblivious “on and off switch”. Even though this sounds stupid, try to be able to make yoursself oblivious to absolutely everything at any time. If you have pain, making yourself oblivious to it will help you to pretty much forget about the pain, even though it is still there.
  • Push through the pain. If you hurt yourself, pay no attention to it (unless it is a serious injury). Sometimes when I am playing soccer or football, and I get laid out, I skin my hips and bump my head, etc., and it hurts. But just stand up, brush yourself off, and keep playing. Pay no attention to the pain.
  • DO NOT BE A DRAMA QUEEN. If you sit there saying, “OMG, I think I broke my leg! I need an ambulance! Help!”, when you simply got a kick to the shin.. you are a Drama Queen. I think being a drama queen can actually intensify (for lack of better words) the phsycology of pain, tricking yourself into giving your body more pain, in turn, making it hurt more. And, when nobody pays attention to you, it could be quite embarrassing.
  • Do not take any commercially available pain killers, as they interfere with your body’s nervous system. I do take Advil when I get a headache, and I take medicine when I get a cold. However, I don’t take Advil when I have minor injuries.

What’s the most painful thing that has ever happened to you? Or, better yet, what’s the most painful thing you can imagine? Email me at chris.pirillo.com, or leave a follow-up comment to this video and let me hear your experiences.

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Google Docs has a Community?!?!

April 4, 2008 at 4:01 pm · in gnomepal, Media Blog · Comments (2)

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If you got an email from someone alledging to be on the “Google Docs Team”… would you believe it? I didn’t, because they were asking if I would like to post to the Google Docs blog to help other users. True enough… Google Docs is knocking on my Virtual door. Now they’ve started a YouTube channel.

I’m about to use Google Docs to engage the community. A few weeks ago, I announced my intention in developing an open-source platform where you can create your own little community, based on Drupal. At that point, it didn’t really have a name. Mike Arrington from TechCrunch ribbed me into finding a name. So… I went went Gnomepal. That’s kind of a little mix of my username, and the word Drupal. This will basically be a “community in a box”. This will be for non-technical people who want to create a community online. It’s not a blog or a forum… those are tools. It’s things like these all combined into one tidy little package.

As we’re assembling these resources, there is a list of questions we’re asking you to fill out in order to get your feedback on this project. These questions are based in an open Google Spreadsheet. The list of questions is for both community leaders… and members.

  • What do you want in a community site?
  • What are your top 5 most important components / tools / features of a community site?
  • What pieces “must” be in place for Gnomepal’s first milestone in order for you to start using it to build a community?
  • Are there any parts that, if they weren’t available, would keep you from using Gnomepal for your community needs?
  • What frustrates you about your current community site(s)?
  • What do you love about your current community site(s)?
  • What tool(s) do you currently use to organize your community?
  • Is limited customization (color, logos, etc.) important to you?
  • Do you want to be able to narrow your feature set down to only a few, or to have the whole range of features always available?
  • How long would you be willing to spend updating your site (its content) each week?
  • Is it important that you be able to generate revenue with your site?
  • Is sharing revenue with your community members important?
  • Do your members pay dues or make donations to the community?
  • How active is your community? In what way?
  • How likely are you to set up a new community site within the next month? Six months? Year?
  • If you build a new community site on Gnomepal, would you allow all of your members to contribute promoted content, only a few members, or only yourself?
  • Would your site be private, or open to the general public?
  • Do you anticipate your community would need live (video or audio) content, or possibly event coordination tools?
  • Would you host the community site software on your own server, or would you prefer a tiered hosted solution?
  • How important is it to you that you be able to view detailed stats about your community site? (very, somewhat, not at all)

You can find all of the information about Gnomepal on the site. The way we’re building it is with total modularity and flexibility. This way, you can add only the components you want or need. We want to set up a hosted service, so that you can just answer a few questions with clicks of the mouse and BAM! Your community is set up. Instead of us saying “you have to use these services”… we’ll have it set up to be customized to your needs. You’ll be able to build your community on your terms. It doesn’t get any better than that!

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What can you do in Argentina? Don’t cry…

April 4, 2008 at 3:45 pm · in Media Blog, Vacation · Comments (3)

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Joaquin is a 15 year old community member from Argentina. He and his mother put together this excellent list of things you can do if you are ever fortunate enough to visit this beautiful place.

  • The city of Buenos Aires is gigantic, and each neighborhood offers rewards in architecture, cultural treasures and urban life. Tango was born in the neighborhood of San Telmo and La Boca. The government is located in the Buenos Aires City Center. Shopping is extremely unique, and the nightlife is vibrant. Transportation is abundant, but it’s wise to bring a pair of comfortable shoes and take a walking tour of the city.
  • Iguazu Falls is one of the unclaimed natural wonders of the world. The entire journey there, and the semitropical jungle itself, is an adventure you will never forget… not to mention the endless waterfalls that border with Brazil in this Northern Argentina attraction. Make sure you take the boat ride underneath the falls, and use plastic bags to keep your things from getting wet.
  • Buenos Aires Tango is the most unique cultural contribution Argentina has made to the world in the last 100 years. To make the most of a day in Buenos Aires, the Buenos Aires tango tours are the ticket. You will get a tour of the different areas of where Tango began and why. You get a Tango lesson, tango shopping, a tango restaurant and one of the best Tango shows available. And if this still does not satisfy, you can go to a Tango milonga for late night entertainment.
  • The Recoleta Cemetery is located in the neighborhood of Recoleta. This cemetery brings to life the history of its country like no cemetery in the world. All the legends of Argentina are laid to rest here including past dictators, scoundrels, heroes, and the most famous woman of South America, Eva Peron. The Recoleta Cemetery is a 13-acre labyrinth of concrete, sculptures and architectural masterpieces… so it is a good idea to have a knowledgeable English-speaking tour guide.
  • Bariloche is a progressive Southern Argentina city that is growing swiftly due to its healthy environment. It is located on a lake in the Andes mountains range. Bariloche is also the jumping-off point for outdoor adventures in the Patagonia region. But this mountain town is most famous for superb world-class skiing.
  • Salta is an exotic city steeped in history and located in an arid region in Northern Argentina. This area was once part of the Inca Empire, and the Inca ruins are worth exploring. The famous train here is called The Train In The Clouds. This train offers panoramic mountainous views of the area. Sadly sometimes the train is covered in clouds because its so high up that you may not see outside. Still, Salta is beautiful with historic sights, excellent fishing and a relaxed atmosphere.
  • Argentina beef has become world famous because the cows graze on nutrient rich river basin soil from the Rio De la Plata. In addition, the climate of the Pampas region is mild and moist all year round, making the beef tasty and succulent. The cow itself led the country to an economic boom in the early 1900’s that allowed for great infrastructure, and decadent architecture that remains intact today.
  • Buenos Aires restaurants are where you can find the beef. You pay for what you get in Buenos Aires. Most restaurants have the same Italian menu and are very conservative. However even in those, you will find great parillas, good beef and chorizo. But if you cough up a little extra devauled currency, and go slightly upscale, you will find just about every kind of dining experience available to man at these excellent Buenos Aires restaurants.
  • The Colon Theater in Buenos Aires has hosted some of the most famous performances of each decade over the last century. It is still one of the top opera houses in the world and worth a look. Today it houses one of the most extensive costume collections on the planet.
  • Argentina products and shopping are great! Due to the devaluation of the peso in 2001, Argentina tries to rely heavily on its own industry and production. Therefore, in the shops scattered all over Argentina, you will find unique goods only found in Argentina and at fantastic prices. This includes rare stones, leather goods, and clothes and shoes. And don’t forget about Argentina wine! The Melbec is the best but since it’s hard to pack, I recommended that you finish the bottle before you leave the country.

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Are you a Touch Typist?

April 4, 2008 at 3:33 pm · in Computer, Media Blog · Comments (17)

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Xenaol writes: “As many computer gamers and programmers will be aware, the art of typing without looking is a very useful and envied skill to possess. As a result of this, I decided to write this top 5 list of tips to help any learners on their way, so here goes.”

  • The Keyboard A popular tactic used in typing classes is the blank keyboard with a reference poster for support on the wall. This encourages you to familiarize yourself with the keyboard layout without looking down at it. If you have a spare keyboard, it might be worth coloring out the characters on the keys. Under no circumstances s it recommended you do this on your primary keyboard, just in case you lose your reference sheet (or someone else needs the keyboard/computer!)
  • Fading Out Deleting all identifying marking on your keyboard is not for everyone. If you are willing to put some extra time into the venture, then you might be more suited to the method of simply typing as you normally would. However, slowly force yourself to look at the keyboard less and less. This method is the one that I used to start learnin before switching over to the blank keyboard. This is evidence that the process is quite flexible.
  • Keyboard Position You could spend many hours, days and even weeks more than you need to learning this skill if you change the angle that you are at in comparison to the keyboard. This is because your hands and fingers remember each process in terms of the distance they move. A change of angle will normally change the distances, and you will find yourself lost. In addition, changing the type of keyboard should be avoided during the learning process because once again… it changes the key locations relative to your fingers.
  • Practice & Rest Another obvious but often overlooked thing you can try is to talk to your friends on instant messaging programs. This will create a much more random need for key location, and can speed up the searching process dramatically. After all, if you spent a week solid writing “the red rabbit jumped gracefully over the fence”, you will have to break that routine to type “hey there!” to a friend online. Using any method of learning touch-typing, make sure you take breaks and even change up the methods you use. This will help to refocus your fingers, and increase their accuracy.
  • Finger-Key Ownership Each of your fingers remembers a key as being in a certain location, and will often have a difference of opinion as to where it really is. To curb this annoying habit, you should allocate a finger to each key of the keyboard. This will decrease the amount of thinking that you will have to do, increase your spelling accuracy over time, and can even encourage you to utilize more of your fingers over time.

As I have tried to emphasize, learning to touch-type can take a lot of time. Some people will master this skill much faster than others, so don’t become discouraged. In addition, remember that even expert typists make mistakes at times, and have to sneak a look at the keyboard!

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What are your Favorite Keyboard Shortcuts?

April 4, 2008 at 3:21 pm · in Media Blog, Apple · Comments (7)

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Recently, I made a comment about needing to map keys for my OS X keyboard. Using keyboard shortcuts can save you a lot of time when you’re working. One of our community members sent this list of shortcuts in to give all of us a bit of help when we attempt to GTD!

  • Option + Left / Right arrows When editing text, this combination will scoot you back and forth through the text one word at a time.
  • Option + Up/ Down arrows These move you through paragraph breaks. Up takes you to the start of the paragraph, and down to the end of said paragraph. Within the average Internet site, this also allows you to ’scootch’ the page up and down a little, ala mouse wheel style.
  • Command Key + Left / Right These keys can move you back and forth through pages in the same manner as the back and forward buttons themselves. This (for me) is much faster than using the trackpad, or reaching for the mouse.
  • Command Key + Up / Down These act as what I can only describe as being the ‘home’ and ‘End’ Keys. Basically, they will take you to the top or bottom of the page/text.

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Do you Have any Photoshop Tips for Beginners?

April 3, 2008 at 11:21 pm · in Media Blog · Comments (17)

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Recently, Mushir sent in his list of favorite foods from India. Instead of food, he’s passing on his top tips for people who are just beginning to learn how to use Photoshop.

  • Check it out! When using Photoshop for the first time, see what everything does… from tools to little buttons. This will not only make you move around much faster in Photoshop, but it will also make you experiment a lot more.
  • Always use layers! Layers are one of the most important things you have to remember to use when using Photoshop. It is very frustrating when you draw something really amazing on lets say a black background, but when you want to change the color of the background you notice the drawing and the background are on the same layer. So when you change the background color… the entire drawing gets screwed up. Remember also that using too many layers can get you confused.
  • Name your layers. I know naming your layers can seem useless sometimes, but when working on a big project it is very helpful. Doing this helps you find a particular layer very fast.
  • Use groups. Groups are little folders that you can put as many layers as you want into. Many people don’t even know that groups exist. This helps you organize your layers very easily. Remember to name your groups by the way!
  • Learn the shortcuts. Learning shortcuts is the key to becoming a fast and an efficient Photoshop user. Of course, you will not be able to learn all the shortcuts right away. But after a while, try to remember the shortcuts for the tools you use the most.
  • Filters. Filters are one of the greatest features in Photoshop. Try out the the filters and see what they do. Play with the settings. I like to use the sharpen filter a lot of the time. It gives my images a crisper look. But only use filters when you feel it is necessary.
  • Experiment! Experimenting is something everyone should do. When starting with graphics… you might read tutorials, which is great! You really learn a lot from tutorials. But after awhile, try experimenting to find your own style. It always feels nice to see a new and refreshing style because some have been used so much already that even if they used to look good, they look awful now.

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Did you Work for your TN Visa in Canada?

April 3, 2008 at 10:50 pm · in Media Blog · Comments

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Jimmy Kuo writes: “The topic I want to talk about is having qualified Canadians working in the United States using a working Visa, called the TN. There are many Canadians stopped from crossing into the US, and there are many reasons for this. Here are some tips to help make sure you have everything you need to be able to obtain your TN, and work in the US.”

  • View the NAFTA TN Visa profession list before applying work in the U.S. Make sure that the program you graduated from (and the company that hired you) already fits into the appropriate fields . If your degree is not in the list, there is no way of getting a TN work Visa to work in the States.
  • The main requirement for a TN Visa is to have a University degree related to the profession on the NAFTA TN list. (ex. Bachelors of Science, EE, MIS etc.) Without a degree, there is no chance of acquiring this Visa at the U.S border.
  • Another vital piece of information to provide to customs is an offer letter from the company that has hired you after an interview. Without an offer letter, you cannot prove to customs that you’ve been accepted to work for the company in the States. The letter must contain your period of employment within the company (maximum up to 12 months of the date of hire… again renewable), and the Salary you will be making. It must also have a signature of the employer. The candidate must contact his employer to make sure they cite these important points on the offer letter.
  • You must write a letter about yourself to convince the customs agents as to why you are suited for the job. They need a good reason as to why you are better than others already IN the United States, so to speak. Typically, I’d give a list of set skills that will involve some programming languages and projects I’ve worked on to benefit the company I’ve just been accepted to.
  • Getting a letter of reference from past employers related to the field you’re applying for will definitely help make their decision of allowing you to get a TN.
  • This is the toughest part of getting a visa which will make or break a decision whether or not to allow the applicant to be awarded the work Visa. No matter how long it takes at the border… stay CALM. It’s best not to show your nervousness. Otherwise, they may suspect that something isn’t right, and deny your Visa application… even if everything is in order.

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Can you Eat like an Egyptian?

April 3, 2008 at 10:41 pm · in Media Blog · Comments (1)

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Pauleece is a regular in our chat room, and hails from Egypt! He wanted to share with us the top ten foods that you MUST eat if you ever get the chance to visit his homeland.

  • AWANES This is made of chicken gizzards. When a whole chicken is boiled to make soup, people cut off the Awanes to eat with then number five food I have listed.
  • ADS This is an orange legume that is boiled in water, and then drank like a soup. It can also be poured over rice. This is something that is often eaten when someone has to fast.
  • MOMBAR There is just no good or easy way to put this. Mombar is the lining of a sheep’s intestine that is stuffed with rice. It really IS delicious, I promise.
  • MOLOKHIA I know this was on the Jordanian list but it’s ours. This is a plant with large green leaves, and the leaves are cooked with taalya. People drink this as a soup, or pour it over rice.
  • HAWAWSHEE This is named after its creator El Sheikh El Hawawshee. It’s a meat sandwich, but the bread and the meat are cooked together.
  • KEBDA This is another name for liver. It’s cow’s liver cooked in a special oily sauce that is very spicy. At least 99% of Egyptians love this dish.
  • SOGO ESKANDARANI This is Alexandrian sausage, which is a special kind of sausage that is cut into slices. It is then usually cooked with the same sauce as the Kebda.
  • KOSHARY Koshary is a mixture of rice, macaroni, fried onions, hummus, tomato sauce and chili.
  • TAAMYA This has the same origin as Falafel, but its made from fava beans. Some countries use chickpeas instead.
  • FOOL Pretty much all North African and Middle Eastern countries make fun of Egyptians for eating this. Fool is basically just ground Java beans. You can use difference spices. There are probably ten million different Fool recipies floating around Egypt!

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What Else can your Mobile Phone Do?

April 3, 2008 at 9:35 pm · in Media Blog, Health · Comments (13)

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Yes, you can do more than make calls and send messages with your phone. But can it do anything more than that? One viewer claims that the following are possible:

  • Emergency Number worldwide for Mobile is 112. If you find yourself out of the coverage area of your mobile network in an Emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you. Keep in mind, 112 can be dialed even if your keypad is locked!
  • Have you locked your keys in the car? Does your car have remote keyless entry? This may come in handy someday. If you lock your keys In the car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home on their cell phone from your cell phone. Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near the mobile phone on their end. Your car will unlock. This saves someone from having to drive your keys to you. Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away, but if you can reach someone who has the other ‘remote’ for your car, you can unlock the doors (or the trunk). This is something that I believe is highly suspicious.
  • Hidden Battery Power Imagine your cell battery is very low. To activate, press the keys *3370#. Your cell phone will restart with this reserve, and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when you charge your cell phone next time.
  • How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone. To check your Mobile phone’s serial number, key in the following Digits on your phone: *#06#. A 15-digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset. Write it down, and keep it somewhere safe. If your phone get stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless. You probably won’t get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can’t use/sell it either. If everybody does this, there would be no point in people stealing mobile phones. This is your IMEI number!
  • Free Directory Service for Cells Cell phone companies are charging us $1.00 to $1.75 (or more!) for 411 information calls when they don’t have to. Most of us do not carry a telephone directory in our vehicle, which makes this situation even more of a problem. When you need to use the 411 information option, simply dial: (800)FREE411, or (800) 373-3411 to get any number you need… for free. Program this into your cell phone now.

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Those Videos were April Fool’s Day Jokes!

April 3, 2008 at 9:16 pm · in Media Blog · Comments (13)

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Due to the overwhelming response to all the videos we uploaded on April 1st… I have decided to revert my decisions. Everything will go back to the way it was the day before APRIL FOOL’s day!

I still can’t believe how many people fell for all of them. The date is stamped onto each video we record and upload. I gotta tell you… I love that holiday. You know it will happen next year, as well. It’s funny how many people sent me emails begging me to not quit streaming, telling me they now hate me… it was insane!

I wasn’t really able to trick Ponzi this year. I did manage to put a icky-looking remote control spider in the middle of the kitchen floor. She didn’t really fall for it though, since the remote decided not to work. The worst prank I ever played would have to be the time I decided to use a mail-merge function in the Pirillo’s Picks. I moved the variable up to the top, instead of having it at the bottom. I said “The newsletter is getting too big. I’m going to have to unsubscribe ten people every day… until it’s down to a manageable size.”. I then used the new rule to add in nine fake email addresses, and number eight always showed up as the person’s email address who was reading the newsletter at the time. My list grew that day by over 20,000 people. I’m not kidding. That many people re-subscribed, thinking they had been unsubscribed! So, they pulled out another email address and subscribed again. It was funny, but people were seriously freaking out BIG time. I had to immediately send out an apology email.

Even though I love to play pranks, I really do try to make sure not to do them at other’s expense. I don’t mean to hurt anyone, or seriously anger them. I hope you all had fun along with me!

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Exclusive Coupon for 3D Fuzion 3DFR55256P GeForce FX 5500 256MB 128-bit DDR PCI Video Card

April 3, 2008 at 11:24 am · in Coupons · Comments (2)

hey chris my name is luke i was wondering if u had a coupon for newegg so i can get a new vid card i know u get these all the time but if u could help me that would be great if not that is ok Thank you for the great live broadcast and youtube vids L8er …..

Managed to wrangle an exclusive coupon from NewEgg for the 3D Fuzion 3DFR55256P GeForce FX 5500 256MB 128-bit DDR PCI Video Card that you wanted:

Travelocity Coupons

April 2, 2008 at 11:24 pm · in Coupons · Comments (1)

Find More Coupons

There’s nothing I like more than saving money on vacations. I use them all: Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, Priceline, but to find the best deals on hotels I’ve found that contacting the hotels directly (by phone or through their website) can save you the most money. I recently booked a hotel room in a really nice boutique hotel in San Francisco through their website for only $100/night, which was $40 cheaper than the rate that was posted on the various online travel sites.

Don’t Let Software Die

April 2, 2008 at 4:02 pm · in Software · Comments (4)

This email landed in my inbox last week, but it’s taken me this long to post it…

Dear Resellers,

I’m writing to you today to give you a long overdue update on our Blogware and Web Site Builder services.

Over the past year Tucows has been working to refine its overall reseller strategy, putting greater emphasis on the four core services we see as essential for the success of resellers and Tucows alike. The services we’re focussed on are the “traditional” Tucows Domain and SSL Services, our new Email Service, plus our recently launched Personal Names Service.

Despite our love of Blogware and Web Site Builder, we just haven’t found the interest from Resellers in these services we had hoped and we’ve decided to de-emphasize them going forward.

What does “de-emphasize” mean?

Essentially, these services are no longer part of our growth strategy and as a result we are no longer actively marketing or selling them to new resellers.

What does this mean to you as a Blogware and/or Web Site Builder reseller?

Probably less than you might expect.

We will continue to operate and support the services for the foreseeable future. You and your customers should not see any change in the quality of service or the level of support you receive. Essentially it is “business as usual”.

We are however not planning any updates to Blogware beyond maintenance windows and major bug fixes that might required to maintain the service at its current state. Our Web Site Builder vendor continues to enhance the service and we expect to pass through these updates.

Should you have any questions about this, please contact your Account Manager or, if you prefer, me.

We thank you for your continued support of Tucows.

Ken Schafer
VP Product Management and Marketing
Tucows

I migrated from MovableType (another locked platform) to Blogware a few years ago, and ultimately saw stagnation in product development - which put me in quite a pickle, as I really didn’t want to go back to hosting my own blog. It was around then that I decided to make the leap into WordPress, which is what this blog is running today - and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve not yet upgraded to WP 2.5, but that change is coming as I’m working on a new template for this very domain.

What worries me most about building communities on closed platforms is that as soon as those platforms change direction or stop innovating, you’re locked into a toolset that has nowhere to go but down. A blog is only ONE community tool to use - but not the only one that the community may need at any time.

For anybody still using Blogware on my earlier recommendation, I deeply apologize. Tucows has given absolutely no indication that they’re interested in opening the platform at all - leaving you in more of a no-win situation. My “continued support of Tucows” is completely contingent on what they decide to do with Blogware now… aside from abandoning it.

Don’t let software die, please? If nobody wants to pick up the ball and run with it, at least you would have given them the opportunity to do so. This is what worries me most about spreading more of my data across more of these networks that have little (if any) chance of surviving another digital downturn.

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Why I’m Switching Back to Windows XP from Mac OS X

April 1, 2008 at 10:31 am · in Media Blog · Comments (118)

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The experiment is officially over. Today I am going back to Windows XP. I really found myself needing to use Windows software. You don’t realize how dependent you get on utilities like Notepad and Microsoft Paint until you no longer have them. I pulled out all my old software to go through it, and see what is compatible… where.

My old TaxCut versions won’t work on the Mac. The copies of Windows Vista is not compatible with OS X. My MouseWorks… not compatible. I’ve got random stuff that just won’t work on OS X. I mean, seriously… “Testing and Improving your Memory” doesn’t work on OS X? How insane is that?

What about my Lara Croft Tomb Raider game? Why can’t I use that on the Mac? See? I have to go back to Windows XP. Even my Soundblaster drivers won’t work. It’s just nuts. I’m not happy with Mac OS X because of all this. I want my software to work!! As of today, I’m back on XP.

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