OK, the car is back from the shop, looks great and I’m back in the world of the living, the dreaded disease is about gone!
I feel like I have some deadly disease this week. Horrendous sore throat, bad hacking cough and sleeping a lot. Looking forward to wellness.
Now aren’t you sorry you had to read that?!
Around Christmas time I was in the market for a new MP3 player and had decided on the Microsoft Zune (www.zune.net). I know that this was against most of the commercial wisdom of the day since I heard recently that 59% of all MP3 owners have an iPod (store.apple.com).
A day or two after I ordered the Zune online through Microsoft I received an email from them saying that it was on backorder and I would get it sometime in the next couple of months. Being driven by instant gratification right that minute, I decided to go to the local stores and buy one. However, since it was right after December 25th they were all out.
I did; however find an Apple iPod locally. After talking to all of my iPod friends and checking out how they work…I switched and became an iPod owner.
Armed with my 80Gb iPod Classic I loaded onto it every CD my wife and I owned (about 100 hours worth). Then I added five movies, three or four unabridged books, my standard seven podcasts and hundreds of digital family photos.
After doing all of that I checked and had used less than 20% of the hard drive space on the iPod. I thought, “Hmm, what else can I do with all of that empty computer space?”
A friend then told me about free software out call “MojoPac For Individuals” (mojopac.com). This software allows you to carry data files and computer applications (such as Word, Excel, Solitaire, Firefox, Maxthon, many games, IMs, etc.) on most any USB storage device or iPod.
What is neat is that once those programs are installed on your device you can then plug your USB device into another computer and run the device as your own computer. For instance, I could be traveling and need a spreadsheet from work off of my work computer. As long as I have copied it to my iPod using MojoPac, I can hook up to the hotel computer and open that file in my own Excel (must be licensed) then edit/save that file and even email it right from my iPod.
I don’t really need to lug around my notebook computer any longer (which only has a 40GB drive), as long as I have access to another computer. I know this is hard to believe for some of you geeks out there but go to the site and check it out. You don’t even need an iPod. I first installed it on my 2GB flash drive to test it out and it worked like a charm, I just ran out of space.
P.S. Microsoft delivered my Zune 5 days after they told me it could be a while but I stuck with the iPod. Also, MojoPac will work with the Zune too!
Tags: Double Click, iPod, microsoft, mp3, mp3 player, Ron Doyle, zune
The car is in the shop and I have a new PT Cruiser from the rental company…nice but no Mustang GT.
I think I just got a Twitter api working on my new website (not ready for release yet). Pretty slick tool.
WOW according to the emails that I received the last couple of weeks there are apparently many of you who read the column…and really remember what I write. First off, thanks for the emails; I always appreciate them even when you want to disagree with me. That counts for something.
The thing that many of you reminded me of was that I didn’t write a column this year which reviewed the sites I commented about last year. So here it is. You asked for it, you got it with short descriptions when necessary!
My car had an attempted break-in last week. Insurance will cover the damage. Today I got the estimate and next week the repairs begin.
If you have read my column in the past you know that I am a big Google devotee. I have written about Google’s abilities in math, directory assistance, alerts, etc. And that doesn’t even hit the tip of the iceberg related to its extraordinary search capabilities.
The latest Google product I want to mention is entitled, “Google Maps”. There are many ways to get to Google Maps online but the easiest for me is by typing maps.google.com into the browser. Once you land there your first view is generally a map of the continental United States. But this is where the fun starts. I know there are many map sites on the internet; however, not all of them allow you to click and drag them around. Click the main map and see our other two states, Mexico, Canada and some other surrounding geography as you test it.
Before you start using it you can click on a link on the left side of the window to try a multitude of “tricks”. One even shows you how you may be able to use Google Maps on your phone.
One trick that I learned while researching this column was that you can type in the search bar, above the map, a business category and the zip code, or city and state, for locations. For instance I typed “pizza 22801″ and got a listing of four pages of restaurants serving pizza in the area. This included addresses and phone numbers along with a map where they were located.
Once you get a listing of the businesses their locations are displayed in the map with “bubbles”. The names are listed on the left side of the window with phone numbers. Click on the names or the bubbles and a large comic book-like balloon opens with the name, address, phone, website (if available), a number of sites it is listed on and a close “x” button. There is also a “To here” and “From here” link for directions to and from the business. Oh it allows you to read and write reviews of the restaurants and maybe even see pictures about them.
Oh and for a REAL TRIP try earth.google.com. Once there you can download and try out Google Earth. What a trip, but sorry I don’t have space here to tell you about it. Let’s just say, “You ain’t seen nothing yet!”
Try it and if you don’t like it I guarantee you will at least appreciate it!
Taking lunch at work and working on personal stuff. Like I said, "does it ever get better?" Just a little break would be nice for a change!
Kicking back to relax after a long tiring weekend-then tomorrow off to a longer tiringer week. Does it ever get better?
To err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer.
— Farmers’ Almanac, 1978
