1. sudo su root

(enter password)

2. vi /etc/apt/sources.list

3. Uncomment the two lines that I have bolded and italicized below:

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical’s
## ‘partner’ repository.
## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by Canonical and the ## respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu users.
deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu lucid partner
deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu lucid partner

(save the file)

4. apt-get update Once this update is finished, you are ready to install the Sun Java JDK and all the other components that are required.

(I know that is entry is a bit more technical than most that I write about, but it is something that I am sure is holding up a lot of people. It took me a little while to figure it out.)

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

The fact that Amazon is so good with books, computer parts and computers has gotten me excited about a new web site that they have put up for selling wireless phones and service plans. You can get to it by clicking here. I recently purchased a Mi-Fi router for my iPad through Amazon and can tell you that I was very satisfied with the transaction. It cost me $.01 with a two year plan. This was cheaper than the price on Verizon’s web site. You can get any of the following popular phones for $.01:

If instead you want the Motorola Droid or HTC HD2 Windows phone, you can get the Droid for $19.99 as of this writing and with HD2 for $99.99.

Motorola Droid A855    

HTC HD2 Windows Phone

Happy shopping!

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

The iPad is a device that I have wanted for over two years. I own Sony’s e-reader, but have always been disappointed by the black and white screen and speed. I wanted a supercharged e-book reader that could also be used for other purposes. In my opinion, the iPad was a dream device. I envisioned it as a large iPod Touch or iPhone and in many ways it is. There is one way, however, in which it is drastically different—it is blazingly fast. Yes, super fast. The new processor that Apple designed and put in the device is super charged. When you move your finger across the screen, it responds instantly. This makes the iPad a joy to work and play with.

Much has been made about the 150,000 iPhone apps that are available. The iPad will let you run these, but they look horrible. Apple doubles every color dot on the screen to make it bigger on the iPad screen. The graphics and letters look terrible in this mode. Fortunately, there is a mode that lets you run these apps in the original size. This gives you an app centered in the iPad screen with a huge black border. This being said, I do not think that this is a major problem for Apple or for iPad buyers. The reason I don’t think so is that there is so much money to be made in making iPad-specific applications, that many developers are hard at work on these. Some of the early iPad apps that I have tested are elegant and useful, others are just spectacular. I recommend GoodReader for storing documents, photos, PDFs, ZIP files and any other type of data that you want on the iPad and need to have password protected. GoodReader does an excellent job at file management and at connecting to a variety of servers using a multiple protocols. It is $.99 well spent. Two free apps that are spectacular are Yahoo! Entertainment and ABC Player. These are just beautiful apps that can be used for obtaining entertainment information or watching ABC shows in gorgeous quality.

If these first apps are any indication, the iPad will have hundreds or thousands of applications that will make the device even more useful over time. I am so convinced of this that I have created a new company called, AirSplash, Inc. just for the development of applications for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. You can visit the web site at http://www.airsplash.com. This is a preliminary web site that will be enhanced over time. Our first application for the iPad is out in the App Store now. It is a simple, easy-to-use and graphically stunning calculator. (Yes, it is weird that Apple chose not to include one with the iPad.) It has been on sale for four days so far and the sales results are encouraging. You can view it (or buy it for $.99) by clicking here.

 
We are working on many more apps. This one was our way of testing the market.

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting &
AirSplash, Inc.

The user interface is no longer an underpowered version of the Windows desktop with a “Start” button and menu system. Instead, it is a series of large colorful tiles that expand into spaces. Each of these spaces is a window into a large pane that is full of information. Some of these spaces are dedicated to People, Music & Videos, and Pictures. Others are more business oriented like e-mail, search and office connectivity. The People space includes information gleaned from Facebook and presents a constantly updated view of your friend’s updates and profile pictures. This will attract the socially voracious younger crowd. The Xbox Live platform that is integrated into the device will also appeal to the younger user. Everyone loves Music, Videos and Pictures so these spaces will have broad appeal and are so well designed and tightly integrated with the phone that they surpass the iPhone. The business oriented space contains sophisticated Outlook-like e-mail that is constantly synchronized with Exchange server. It also synchronizes with Microsoft Office OneNote and SharePoint Server. These business functions put it ahead of all other phones and makes the Microsoft server offerings even more appealing.

The hardware that is planned for the Windows Phone 7 must adhere to a hardware specification that Microsoft has created. All the phones must have multi-touch screens, a powerful processor and three buttons for navigation. This is a departure from Microsoft’s laissez faire attitude from the past. Fortunately, it should help create a Windows Phone 7 experience that rivals Apple’s iPhone experience. The viewing spaces are all larger than the viewing area of the screen and are navigated by dragging them across the viewing area with your finger. Responsive hardware is critical to making the Windows Phone 7 navigation work well and feel like a quality product.

I am excited about Windows Phone 7, but not because it is a new generation device that integrates personal and business information seamlessly. I am excited about it because it is a new software platform that demonstrates Microsoft can still be creative when challenged. It has the potential to be much more than a phone platform. I believe that Microsoft could use it as a new tablet operating system. I can see it being more useful on a tablet form factor than the iPhone (or iPod Touch) operating system. It is more intuitive, more beautiful and encompasses everything that the vast majority of people would want to do on a tablet. I also think it is better than having Windows 7 on a tablet. It is perfectly geared for touch computing. I give Microsoft an A+ for Windows Phone 7 and for the potential that it has on other form factors.

To see demos of the user interface: http://www.windowsphone7series.com/

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

I purchased a CardScan 800c based on a recommendation from a colleague. I saw him scanning a stack of business cards effortlessly and asked him what he was using. He told me that he was using a scanner called “CardScan Executive.” He stressed the “Executive” part because he said that he had purchased a lower end unit from the company that he did not like. The “Executive” version is also known as the CardScan 800c.

The scanner is extremely easy to use. You connect it to your computer, load the software and start placing your business cards into it one by one. The unit will scan the card, save the image of the card and then recognize the relevant company, address, phone, fax, web site and e-mail fields. The data is automatically entered into the included organizer software. You can then verify that it has obtained the correct data by looking at it and the image of the card on the screen. From experience, I can say that it is over 90% accurate. It sometimes gets confused with elaborate logos that are placed on cards in lieu of the spelled out company name.

Once the data is in the organizer software you can have it synchronize with Outlook manually or automatically. This is a great feature and a time saver. I have it set up to automatically sync with

Outlook. Since I have my iPhone automatically synchronizing with my Outlook contacts, all it takes a simple and quick scan of a card to get all its data into my iPhone. This is how gadgets should work.

I am very happy with the scanner and with the results. I am even happier with the customer service that the company provides. Dymo is the company that sells the CardScan. My unit would not work after an upgrade to Windows 7 on my machine. I am not sure what happened to it, but after suggesting I try a new driver, reinstalling the USB cable and other things that I had already tried (I am a computer consultant.), the customer service representative thought that it might be a hardware failure. He sent me an RMA number so that I could return it to the company. Being without the unit for a few days and having to pack it up and send it were not an exciting prospect for me. However, the next day I was pleasantly surprised to receive a box from the company with a replacement unit and a prepaid Fedex slip to use for sending the defective one back. I unpacked the new unit, plugged it in and it has been working perfectly. I sent the other one back in the new unit’s box. That is what I call excellent service. I will buy products from Dymo before I ever buy from a competitor based on this excellent experience. Kudos to Dymo!

I wholeheartedly recommend this product.

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

Despite the strange name, the device is desirable. It comes with a 9.7 inch screen, runs all existing iPhone applications and comes with direct iTunes and App Store access. Even more exciting is the iBook application that allows the reading of books in ePub format and that integrates into a new on-line book store. The application looks very polished and easy to use. It even has animated page flipping and a book shelve for the books that you have already purchased. You control it using the multi-touch technology. Slide your finger across the screen and you are on the next page. Take that Kindle and Sony Reader.

The iPad is half an inch think and weighs 1.5 pounds. It runs up to 10 hours on a charge and can be purchased with a case that doubles as a stand. Also available as an option is a stand that includes a keyboard. The hardware and software looks very slick and will probably draw a lot of attention from gadget lovers as well as productivity seeking executives. Apple will also release $9.99 versions of the applications in iWork. You will be able to create documents with the word processor, spreadsheet or presentation application without having to take a laptop on your trip or without using a desktop computer. It also has a slick version of the Safari web browser that is a larger version of the one in the iPhone. Unfortunately, it still does not have support for Flash.

During the introduction, Steve Jobs showed off mapping, video playback and a new slick iLife-inspired photography application. You can now see albums easily and group them according to people, events or even locations. You can show the photos off in slideshow mode and can even use the iPad as a photo frame when it is not being used for some other productive task. Since I am an amateur photographer, I loved this functionality. I also have to admit that I saw great promise in the e-mail, calendar and contact applications. I can see this becoming my primary computing device around the house and on trips.

The iPad will be available in 60 to 90 days. The Wi-Fi only version will come out first with a price of $499 for the 16GB version, $599 for the 32GB version and $699 for the 64GB one. The Wi-Fi and 3G (unlocked) version arrives thirty days later and costs $130 more for any of the memory configurations. The plans are through AT&T and require no contract. They are $14.99 for 250MB or $29.99 for unlimited data. Plans include free AT&T Wi-Fi and are activated directly from the iPad.

That’s it for now. I’ll tell you more once I buy one in 60 days…

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

There was no amazing technology or flashy e-mail or project management software like the vaporware shown in the Courier video demo. Perhaps this was Microsoft attempt at beating Apple to the punch and then delivering a real product after Apple announces what its new tablet can do. I guess we will all have to wait and see if that is the case.

Apple will be introducing its product near the end of this month. It is speculated that it will not be available until late March.

Once the announcement is made tonight, I will report the details here.

Bing, chose to place some Christmas imagery on their home page, but chose to minimize the religious aspect of Christmas as well. By comparison, I must commend them on not ignoring a billion plus believers worldwide. They also included several linked areas of he images that include references to interesting facts about the decorations seen in Rockefeller Center. What I found the most heartwarming is that one of them uses the word Christmas. Bravo Microsoft! I think that I will advertise with your search engine and not Google’s.

The only way to stop large companies like Google from ignoring the beliefs, hopes and feelings of a large majority of the world is to vote with our pocketbooks. I, for one, do not intend on supporting Google. I will also limit any future positive blog entries about them. (If you look through the older entries here, you will see quite a few positive entries on various Google products or services.) Google ads have been removed from this blog and I will be removing them from my other web sites as time permits. It is only fair that their lack of respect be met with my indifference and total lack of support for their corporate empire building.

Merry Christmas world. Much love to every one on earth.

You would think that the United States military would be smarter than sending live video streams from multi-million dollar aircraft without encryption. Unfortunately, they are not. You can see the unencrypted, live feeds using this inexpensive software.

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

I was recently asked by a friend what would be the best way to get notified of news stories surrounding Tiger Woods. Since I have been taking advantage of Google News Alerts for over a year, I knew that the easiest way to track any item of interest is to set a Google Alert on it. I have alerts on “health care reform,” my customer’s company names, my name, my wife’s name and many other topics and people of interest. Google dutifully sends me a daily e-mail with a recap of all the web, news and blog mentions of each subject. I told my friend about the alerts and you could immediately see that he grasped how useful Google Alerts could be for business.

If you want to set an alert on news about Tiger Woods go here. You can also use the page to set alerts on any other topic that might interest you.

I am providing 26 easy steps to upgrading your Mac Mini. I hope this helps you. Please remember to be careful and gentle. The case is delicate and it is better to spend a little extra time to get it right than to damage your case.

Step 1. Buy Memory and get a spatula, small flat head screwdriver screwdriver and kitchen knife. One of the technicians her at Alonso Consulting was able to forgo using a spatula. However, I think it is easier with a small, sturdy spatula. Before you proceed, unplug all cords from the Mac Mini and place everything on a padded surface. You can use cloth for this purpose.

Step 2. Start opening case by prying it open with spatula or kitchen knife. Be careful and take your time. You do not want to break any of the plastic tabs that grip into the sides of the Mac Mini case.

Step 3. Use hands to pry the case off once you have popped off the sides.

Step 4. You can also use the small screwdriver to hold a side up so that it does not clip back into place as you work around the case.

Step 5. You will start to see the bottom separating from the top of the unit.

 
Step 6. Continue to move around the case until you pry it apart completely. Apply pressure away from the upper section with your fingers. Be gentle.

Step 7. Once this is done, you can  lift the bottom section off the top and see the insides of the Mac Mini.

Step 8. You can place the bottom of the unit which contains the electronics on a flat padded surface.

Step 9.  Locate the wireless antenna. It is in one of the corners. Remove it gently without separating the cable from the rest of the unit.

Step 10.  Remove screws that are found on each corner. Be careful about placing these somewhere in the order that they were removed. They are not all the same length.

Step 11.  Now lift the electronics off the bottom plastic very gently.

Step 12. You can lift from the side using your thumbs.

Step 13. As you lift, you will see the memory sockets. There are two SODIMM sockets.

Step 14. Here is a better look at the memory.

Step 15. Remove the installed memory and replace it with your two SODIMMS.

Step 16. You should buy memory that will max out your Mac Mini so that you will not have to do this again. I installed two 2 GB memory modules for a total of 4 GB on my Mac Mini. Please note in the picture that the modules were inserted sideways under the electronics with a lot of gentle care.

Step 17. Here is a closer look at the memory modules in their slots.

 
Step 18. In this step, the technician is putting firm pressure on the two memory chips so that they snap in place. You will hear a slight click.

Step 19. Set the electronics back into place in the plastic case.

Step 20. Replace the screws that you removed earlier.

 
Step 21. Replace the wireless card that you removed. Make sure that it clips into place and is not sticking out. If it is, then you will have problems putting on the cover or getting wireless networking to work.

 
Step 22. Here is a picture of the Mac Mini electronics ready to be put back together with the upper portion of the plastic Apple cover.

Step 23. Start by placing the electronics into the case as pictured. Make sure you line up the back potion with the cable ports correctly. You will not be able to close the case any other way, so this should be intuitive.

Step 24. Apply gentle, but firm pressure all around the case. Please note that a padded surface was used to avoid scratches on the case.

Step 25. For the final steps, squeeze the upper portion of the case down around the back with the connectors. For some reason, this section required more pressure.

Step 26. You are done. Relax, plug in your Mac and watch a nice movie on it from iTunes.

The same steps can be used to replace the hard drive. It is located behind the memory in the electronic core. I hope this has been helpful.

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

Microsoft’s Windows 7 was released today and the consensus is that it is a great new operating system for PCs. It is fast, elegant, stable and even visually appealing. Windows 7 has plenty of features, but features are not its claim to fame. Microsoft is stressing the fact that it is a streamlined piece of software that works well. After its Vista debacle and the bad publicity that it garnered for the company, I am very heartened by this new release and can recommend it unequivocally.

Unlike its predecessor, Windows 7 works well with almost all hardware and even has functionality built in that will enable you to see a picture or drawing of new hardware that you connect to it. Next time you buy a printer or digital camera and plug it in via a USB port, you may be surprised when you see a picture of the device on your screen confirming that it is recognized and working.

I am very fond of the BitLocker technology that is included with the Windows 7 Ultimate Edition. With it, you can encrypt and password protect your computer’s hard drive. This protects your data in case your machine is stolen or lost. It is particularly useful for laptop and netbook owners since these are often stolen from hotel rooms. The BitLocker To Go technology makes it possible to also encrypt removable hard drives and USB thumb drives.

The Libraries feature allows you to group related folders together under a category like documents, music or video. This simplifies the task of backing up groups of documents or creating music playlist from music that is stored in multiple locations. You can use the new Windows Backup utility to create those backups and even schedule complete backups of your PC. I love this new backup tool because it will also create a system repair disk for you that you can use to restore your machine after a catastrophe.

It is important to note, that some older versions of software do not work with Windows 7. Two that I know won’t work are Norton Ghost and the various versions of Microsoft Fingerprint Reader software. Symantec is working on an upgrade for Norton Ghost that will be compatible and Microsoft is offering rebates to owners of the Microsoft Fingerprint devices and software.

Perhaps the only real issue I have with the new release is that it comes in too many versions. Microsoft is selling a Starter, Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise version. It is also selling versions that are for 32 bit and 64 bit computers. It is confusing as to which version is good for office, home and notebook use. It is also unclear whether a machine can handle the 64 bit version. It is so confusing that Microsoft has put up a web page that compares the versions.

Alonso Consulting can help you decide if upgrading is the right move for you. If you decide to upgrade your existing machines, we can guide you through the planning process, back up your existing data and then upgrade you to the correct version. Users of Windows XP do not have a direct upgrade path with Windows 7, so all data and applications have to be backed up and reinstalled.

If you prefer to buy new machines, we can provide you with a great deal* on Dell computers preloaded with Windows 7 Professional. Once we install the new machine and port your data over, we’ll erase your old PC’s hard drive, remove it and give you a $100 credit for it that you can use towards additional support from us. We will also provide you with a pass-along gift certificate worth $250. It is our way of saying thank you.

Call us at (973) 575-1414 to start upgrading to this excellent new version of Windows.

Thanks,

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

* Here’s the deal:

You get a Dell PC with Windows 7 Professional worth $765. You also receive up to two hours of service to install your old applications and data. We will remove your old PC and give you a $100 credit for future support plus a pass-along gift certificate worth $250 so you can share our services with a business associate. The total value is $1,365. If you decide to upgrade and pay on our web site by October 27th, you will receive the PC, our service, a $100 credit, and the gift certificate which is a total value of $1,365 for only $899 per PC. Here are the specs on the PC:

Processor	Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E7500 (2.93GHz, 3M, L2Cache, 1066FSB)
Operating system	Genuine Windows ® 7 Professional 32 bit
Monitor	18.5 inch E1910H Flat Panel Monitor
Memory	3GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHZ – 1×2GB 1×1GB
Optical drive	Single Drive: 16X DVD-ROM Drive
Hard drive	250GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
Video card	Integrated Video, Intel® GMA X4500HD
Security software	Norton Internet Security™ 2009 30 Day Trial
Sound	Integrated 5.1 Channel Audio
Keyboard & mouse	USB Keyboard and USB Optical Mouse
Adobe software	Adobe Acrobat Reader
Resource DVD	Resource CD and DVD
Setup guide	System Quick Reference Guide
Network interface	Integrated PCIE 10/100/1000
Warranty & service	1 Year Manufacturer’s Basic Limited Warranty and 1 Year NBD On-Site Service

]]> http://www.robert-alonso.com/2009/10/22/happy-birthday-windows-7/feed/ 0 http://www.robert-alonso.com/2009/10/20/bitlocker-to-go-on-windows-7/ http://www.robert-alonso.com/2009/10/20/bitlocker-to-go-on-windows-7/#comments Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:42:50 +0000 Robert Alonso http://www.robert-alonso.com/2009/10/20/bitlocker-to-go-on-windows-7/ The clock is ticking towards the release of a faster and generally more robust operating system for PCs. As many of you know, Windows 7 will be released in two days. What does this release mean to you? The most immediate impact is that it will become increasingly difficult to find any machines with Windows XP. Vista was so unpopular that Microsoft allowed Dell and other PC makers to offer downgrades to XP. Most of my customers chose that path and paid an extra $100 for the privilege.

Once Windows 7 is released, Microsoft will try to never talk about Windows Vista again and will instead tout the great new improvements in Windows 7. This is not without precedent. The same thing happened with Windows Millennium Edition (Me). Most people have forgotten about Windows Me but it was the worst operating system that Microsoft has ever sold—far worse than Vista. It followed the successful Windows 95 and 98 and preceded Windows XP which was arguably the most hardy PC operating system produced by Microsoft so far. Maybe magic will strike twice and Windows 7 will be a huge success and, more importantly, be a solid replacement for Vista.

If you are a reader of this blog, then you know that I have been testing Windows 7 for some time. I have also been reporting about features that I find useful or interesting. I have found one that makes Windows 7 worthwhile to me. That is the “BitLocker To Go” feature. This is an extension of the BitLocker functionality that Microsoft released with Windows Vista Ultimate. BitLocker is still only available on the Ultimate version, but now comes with this additional feature that enables the complete encryption of external hard drives or USB thumb drives. I find this extremely useful because I am always worried about losing a USB drive with important documents or pictures that I would not want a stranger to have. With BitLocker To Go, I can live in peace knowing that my data is secured.

You enable it by inserting the removable device into the computer and then starting the BitLocker application. Once it is started, you tell it to encrypt the USB drive and give it a password. It takes care of the rest. The next time that you insert that USB drive into the computer it prompts you for the password before you can access the data on it. If you provide the password and check off an option on the screen, the PC will recognize that drive and make the files available each time that you plug it into that specific machine without you having to retype the password.

If you are wondering if that USB drive will then work on an XP machine, you are in luck. It does. When you insert the USB drive into the XP machine, it prompts you for the password and loads an application that lets you copy the data off the device and use it. However, one of these encrypted drives will not work on Apple Macintosh computers.

If you are like me and are worried about your laptop being stolen or lost, you can use BitLocker to encrypt the entire drive of your machine. The process is straightforward and works automatically. It takes a long time to process initially, but once completed, you have peace of mind. That hard drive’s data will be inaccessible without your password. This is the case even if the drive is removed and put into another machine.

To me, these two related data security features are enough of a justification for upgrading to Windows 7.

I have a data center in my office and power consumption is now my third largest expense after payroll and rent. It has become such a large expense that I have been looking at ways to trim it. My efforts have been concentrated on replacing older servers that were less efficient with newer ones and also consolidating wherever possible. With this news, I now have another avenue to explore.

MySpace’s move is smart. It is economics coupled with ecological responsibility. Bravo!

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

Windows 7 introduces a new user interface concept called, “Libraries.” When you first install Windows 7, there are four default libraries. These are:

• Documents
• Music
• Pictures, and
• Videos

Anyone who has been using Windows for a while will recognize these types of files as being part of My Documents and other like named folders. What makes this a different type of structure is that a library can contain multiple folders on your machine that contain whatever file type you designate. For example, the Music library on my machine contains three folders that have music. One is the folder “My Music” on the “C:\” drive, the other is the public folder for music on my machine and the third is a network location where I store some music. Windows 7 determined these locations from my usage of them in Vista prior to the upgrade. It could not have been from scanning my machine because it missed a large amount of music on my “D:\” drive.

Far more interesting than what Windows put into my library for music is that I can tailor it to my needs. I can add and delete folders that contain music. When you use File/Open or other file based tools including Windows Explorer you are presented with the libraries as if they were folders. You can thus manipulate and use related file types from one location regardless of their real location. The allowed folder locations are:

• C:\ Drive
• External Hard Drive
• Additional Internal Drive
• USB Flash Drive (as long as certain conditions are met)
• Network (as long as the location is indexed or has been made available offline)
• Homegroup

Please note that removable media like CDs and DVD are not supported. Libraries can contain up to 50 folders from the allowed locations (above). You can set the default save location for new items that you save to the library and you can also change the type of file that the library is optimized for. This makes for a very easy-to-use way to categorize your files, access them and save them.

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

The user interface gives you tips on how to use the software. Once you are familiar with it, you can turn off the tips. I loved this feature and it is an excellent example of how good software should be written. Another feature that I think is fantastic is the undo feature. You can make as many changes as you want and then undo them if you think you have made a mistake or do not like the result. The “save” function will save the image in your “Camera Roll” and does not overwrite the original photo. I was unsure about this and was quite nervous to save my creation because I did not want to overwrite the original. I should have known that this would not be a problem.

The program will also allow you to upload to photoshop.com. I have not tested this feature yet, but you can sign up from within the program. I recommend this iPhone app wholeheartedly. Get your copy now!

I was very young when man first landed on the Moon, but I was fortunate enough to see it live on a small black and white television. It was one to those amazing and never-to-be-forgotten moments of my youth. I am hoping to witness a new landing on the Moon or perhaps Mars in my lifetime. If it happens, I will be able to watch it in high definition on a huge flat screen television set. I will be able to record it to Blue-Ray disks for future review and will also be able to direct my friends to watch specific moments of the landing on YouTube.com or Hulu. I don’t know about you, but to me this is all amazing progress. My hat is off to the engineers of this world—especially the ones who brought us the transistor and integrated circuit.

Since Windows 7 is not being sold on retail shelves yet, one could argue that I was being a bit unreasonable in my search. However, you would think that someone had developed software for Windows 7 backups in advance of the release of the operating system. It turns out that someone did–Microsoft.

Windows 7 comes with an integrated backup program that will create images of your hard drive and will also backup files incrementally. I decided to give it a try. The following screen shots and text show how to set up the backup software.

Type “backup” in the search box that comes up when you click on the Windows Start menu. You will see a program called, “Backup and Restore.” Start it. Once you do, you will see the following image.

 
Click on “Set up backup.” A dialog box like the one below will be displayed as the software scans for backup destinations.

It will then present you with the following screen. (The destinations will be different for your machine.)

I selected my “D:” drive and was told that it did not have enough space for a system image. I decided to make space on it by moving some files to my “G:” drive using Windows Explorer. I then clicked on “Refresh” and was presented with the new totals for free space on each destination. I picked the “D:” drive again and was able to proceed. The next image shows what you will see.

Unless you are really picky about what is backed up, pick the “Let Windows choose” option. It will backup your files and create a system image in case you have a major problem with your computer. The next screen shows you what will be included and the schedule that will be used for the backups. I do not work in the office on Sundays, so I will change the default schedule to a day that I am in the office and have a lighter workload. That is Friday starting at 3:00 PM for me.

Changing the schedule is accomplished by clicking on “Change schedule.” The screen that is displayed will look like the following one. Note that I have already changed the schedule to Fridays at 3:00 PM using the drop down menus. I then clicked “OK” to save my schedule.

Once the schedule change was completed and saved, the previous screen is redisplayed. I then clicked on the button that reads “Save settings and run backup” and was presented with the following screen showing the backup in progress.

That is it! I now have a working backup that is scheduled to run weekly on Fridays. I also created a system repair disc by clicking on that option in the upper left hand side of the screen above. I even took the risk of doing so while the backup was running. Surprisingly, it worked just fine.

I hope I never need to use it, but if I do I will be ready. If you install Windows 7, I recommend that the first thing you do is run through these steps and create a backup schedule and system repair disc for your computer.

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

Microsoft has finally decided that they should offer protection—something I believe should have been part of the operating system since the fist malware was ever detected years ago. The new offering is free and is called, “Microsoft Security Essentials.” You can download a free copy with updates from here.

I recommend that every reader of this blog install one of the anti-malware products mentioned here. If you don’t, one day you will discover that your machine is infected and that you have very little recourse but to call tech support. If you have tried the free support from companies like Dell, then you know that their solution is to do a system restore from the manufacturer’s CDs. You will lose your data if you do this. Paid support like the one my company, Alonso Consulting, offers will result in the removal of the virus and the saving of your data, but it will not be free. It is, therefore, in your best interest to install one of these tools now. What are you waiting for?

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

Products mentioned:

Although not perfect, this backup strategy saved me from losing my Vista installation once. Something I installed, or a virus, caused my system not to start and to display a black screen with a blinking cursor. I took out the Norton Recovery Disk, booted from it and restored my entire PC from my last image backup. This process took a few minutes and left me with a completely functional PC.

Unfortunately, I do not have this safety with Windows 7. Norton Ghost 12 and even the newer version 14 do not work properly with Windows 7. The Windows 7 upgrade process even recommends that you uninstall them before upgrading. This is something that I ignored, hoping that the incompatibility would be minor and I could still use the program. I was wrong. It does not work properly.

The Symantec message boards have some messages saying that Norton Ghost 15 will include support for Windows 7. It will also feature user interface improvements and added functionality. There is no release date announced yet, but I can’t wait.

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

The device has one button and has indicators along the edge of one of the tablets for displaying battery power and Wi-Fi connectivity. At this time, it is unknown how the device will be charged. The back side of one tablet has a camera with flash. Pictures of the camera lens indicate that it will be 3 megapixels and that it will also have a 4X zoom. It is not clear whether the zoom is digital or optical, but I’d bet on the former. I can easily see this device being used to read books or newspapers in full color and with a page flipping metaphor. (Watch out Amazon Kindle and Sony PRS-505.)

If and when Microsoft releases this as a product, the device could eliminate the need for notebook computers while travelling. From what is visible in the video, it has excellent handwriting recognition. The tablet user in the video writes an Internet address in the browser and is taken to the site. Perhaps this will also work with some yet undisclosed email client. If you can have your schedule, a note taking device, a web browser and email in this handy form factor, why would you lug around a notebook or even a netbook. It is not known if the device will offer any entertainment options, like the ability to play music. If it does, then Microsoft will have a hit on its hands and will finally have a tool that can take away the “cool” designation from Apple.

For pictures click here.

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

Google Fast Flip includes, among many others, The New York Times, Esquire, US, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, Redbook, Cosmopolitan, and The Atlantic in its index. You can search for a topic or just peruse what Google displays for you. If an article grabs your attention, you can click on it to view it in its entirety on the publisher’s web site. This is a more visual way of looking at the news and improves on Google News—something that I have been happily using for over a year. Most of the magazines, publications and web sites that are included are liberal so this may not be a good choice for conservative-leaning readers. The image to the left shows a sample of what you will see on the site. (Please click on it to see a bigger version.)

When you click on one of the displayed news items, you are presented with the flip interface and Google ads. These are  now being displayed to the right of the articles that you are reading. Google has agreed to share ad revenues with the publishers that have partnered with them. This is a big difference between Google News and Google Fast Flip. The Google News product does not share (and perhaps does not generate either) any revenues with publishers. I suspect that Google Fast Flip will be more popular with content creators and publishers. The image to the right shows what you will see when you click on an article. Note that other articles are displayed on the left in a scrollable region. I recommend you give this web site a try. Let me know if you like it.

When you launch the application, it bounces a few times in the dock and then ends. If you look at the console, the error message that is displayed describes an apple.cocoa.foundation.NSRuntime error. It appears that the error is related to Apple’s removal of a Java to Cocoa interface. It is no longer possible to call a Cocoa framework from Java. Although this problem sounds irreparable, the good folks at Roxio have already made a beta fix available on their web site. The new version uses no Java and can then circumvent this issue. If you are a registered user, you can get the fixed version here.

Beatles: Rock Band video game hit stores shelves yesterday and is on its way to becoming a major hit. Even my eleven year old sons want it and they had never even heard of the Beatles prior to this video game. They are more familiar with the new rock bands like Linkin Park. (Is that pronounced like Lincoln? I think I am too old to know for sure.) What I do know for sure is that Linkin Park is a real rock band. They do not put out pansy little songs like the Beatles did. I know I can expect a lot of vicious comments over this, but when think about it the Beatles’ biggest hits were silly love songs that Paul McCartney composed. I happen to like those songs, but my point is that they are not real rock.

News reports indicate that this video game is a huge success. Best Buy in NJ has reported that there were people lined up outside stores for a chance at being first to buy the video game. The game is available for the Nintendo Wii, the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. The official web site is here.

Not wanting to be left with two inoperable devices, I searched the Internet for possible solutions. There are some who claim that you can install the software and then set the application and associated DLLs (program functions in a separate loadable file) to run in Windows Vista or lower compatibility mode for all users on your computer. I have not tested this yet, because I first have to figure out a way to get Windows 7 to install the software in the first place.

If you are not into these convoluted workarounds, that may not work, there is an alternative. I found a mysteriously vague Microsoft web page that says that you can call a phone number if you are having trouble with the Fingerprint Reader. I called the number, worked my way through the various menu prompts to speak with a Microsoft representative and was told that Microsoft was discontinuing the product. The gentleman on the line then asked for my serial number and said that Microsoft would be mailing me a check for $39 in four to eight weeks. (I think this was the amount. I was in shock so I do not remember exactly.) That is not bad. It is more than I paid for the device. I am no longer angry at Microsoft, but I am also not sure why strange things like this occur during an upgrade—especially since the device is Microsoft branded. If anyone has additional information please email me or contact me through the link on the About page. You can visit the Microsoft page with the phone number here or you can call Microsoft at: 1-800-360-7561.

I love the functionality. I can now instantly see which photos are receiving page views and which are becoming other people’s favorites. I can browse through my photos and sets of photos. I can even directly send copies of my photos from the application using the iPhone’s email facility. This is a direct “touch” from the application and it provides a preview before you click on “Send.”

The application makes it easy to look at your favorite photos from other photographers, photos that your contacts are uploading or even photos that anyone on Flickr.com has uploaded. You can enter a keyword and the search functionality will return relevant photos in a grid pattern. You can then touch the one you want to see and it is displayed full size.

Since I purchased my iPhone, I have constantly searched the Apple App Store looking for a Flickr application. Until this release, I had to use the Flickr.com mobile web site which is very good, but limited by comparison. The new app will also let you take pictures and upload them to your account, but I will probably not use that feature that much. I prefer uploading high quality photos in the 12 megapixel range.

The requirements for the app are that you have an iPhone or iPod Touch with OS 3.0.

I also wrote that I was upgrading some Mac Minis to the new 10.6 (known as Snow Leopard) version of the Mac OS. The good news is that the upgrade was inexpensive and relatively painless. It took slightly over an hour to upgrade each Mac. I had no glitches or problems and can report that the Macs are working fine and appear slightly faster. I cannot quantify this for you, but it is the feeling I get from using them. One thing that I am disappointed in is that I have yet to get the Exchange synchronization to work. It does not recognize my server in the office using a direct LAN connection and it does not recognize it from home using a fast Internet connection on both ends. I have not given up on making it work. It is the reason I upgraded. I suspect that there is a filter or firewall in the way that is not allowing the Mac Mail traffic to reach the server. I have one of Alonso Consulting’s best techs working on it.

One thing that I have not written about that much is Windows 7. I think the reason for this is that Windows Vista has been such a disappointment. Vista was and is beautiful and also graceful in the way it works, but it is a resource pig that is unacceptably slow. I have used Vista on two Intel Core 2 Duo Q6600 machines running at 2.4 Ghz with four cores and it sometimes took nearly half a minute to right click on a file to move or copy it. This is just the right click, never mind the copy and/or move which often did not work for inexplicable reasons. I found that a small Aspire netbook running Windows XP Home on a low powered Intel Atom processor often outperformed the faster machine running Vista. That is really pathetic performance for Vista.

Well, I am happy to report that I have upgraded three Vista machines to the Windows 7 and the performance has improved noticeably. The user interface for Windows 7 is still beautiful and elegant, but I found Vista’s more so. Maybe Window 7’s user interface will grow on me over time. I have found that devices work very well with the new operating system and that it was able to correctly identify everything connected to my machine. It shows even external hard drives by the name of the drive. For example, a My Book, shows up named as such in the “Devices and Printers” application. Other devices that are correctly identified are an Apple iPhone, various HP printers, the type of mouse, fingerprint reader and the monitor that I use. The version of Windows 7 that I installed is the Ultimate version and it is the final release that will be on sale in late October. I was able to download it from Microsoft because of Alonso Consulting’s  partner status with Microsoft.

Here is the bad news, it took over two hours for the upgrade from Windows Vista Ultimate. There were a few Dell applications on my system that the upgrade advised me to uninstall. It also did not like the version of Adobe Encore, iTunes and Norton Ghost that I had on my system. This is unfortunate since I use, Norton Ghost for my automated backup every week. When it advised me to uninstall all these apps, I removed the Dell apps and left the others. I also took out a few others that I knew I did not use. I needed a restart after the uninstalls and forgot about it. After going through the system check for about 20 minutes, I was told that the upgrade could not be performed until I rebooted. I rebooted and ran through the same system check for a third time before experiencing over two hours of the upgrade process including a few automated reboots. The Mac upgrade also took over an hour, but it was a little smoother.

On a Toshiba laptop that I upgraded, I was informed that the upgrade could not continue because the Vista that was installed was not Service Pack 1. I had to download that, install it and wait over an hour during that process and then upgrade to Windows 7. That really made me angry. I think the upgrade should work with any version of Vista and with any service pack level. I was also not pleased that I could not upgrade from the 32 bit version of Vista to the 64 bit version of Windows 7. To make that move requires a complete reinstall. Both of the Q6600 machines will support the 64 bit version of Windows 7 and Vista, but were sold to me with the 32 bit version.

That is all the news for now. I will update this blog as I discover more about the Mac Snow Leopard and Windows 7 upgrades.

Of all the new features that I have heard or read about, the most exciting to me is the integration with Microsoft’s Exchange Server. This new release synchronizes Mail, iCal and the Address Book with a corporate Exchange Server. This is a sweet feature which will enable Apple to work smoothly and elegantly in a Microsoft-centric office environment. I’ll report any issues or neat features that I discover in the next couple of days.

You can buy your copy here.

Microsoft may appeal this decision or take some other action. For example, it could try to buy the company and end up owning the patent. It is unlikely that they would risk having to stop selling Word. I can’t imagine that scenario, but we will see in the next 60 days.

If you go to Bing.com, the first thing you notice is that the search engine is the anti-Google. It has a beautiful home page with images that change with each visit. These background images load quickly, are not obstructive and can help you learn facts. For example, in a recent Bing visit, I was presented with an image of the Bastei bridge in Saxon Switzerland. By moving my cursor over a small square in the image, I was told that the bridge was constructed of sandstone in 1851. I was also given an option to learn more. Clicking on the link, brought up search results for the bridge and included a Wikipedia entry as the top result. This distracted me from my main search, “Robert Alonso,” (just kidding) but I can assure you that it was far more instructive. It gave me the feeling I would get scanning through microfiche of old newspapers and discovering something new that I did not know before.

You perform your search just like you would on Google. For example, the image below shows the results for a search for “Democrats fishy activities program.” If you look at the image, you will also notice that under the “Bing” logo and orange colored band on the left, there is a “SEARCH HISTORY” listing. I have removed mine for this image, but that comes in handy if you need to go back to a previous search. You also have the option of turning that feature off completely.

Perhaps the most interesting feature is that you can move your mouse over any of the results and see a popup blurb of the content to be found on the site. This is very helpful for finding out if a result is what you are looking for without having to click through to the site. The third image below shows the popup blurb feature in action. To get it to appear, I placed the mouse over the second result and waited a few seconds. In some of these blurbs, you are also shown other links and prominent items that are found on the page. This gives you a very clear idea on whether to proceed or not.

These neat features aside, what really matters is finding what you are looking for. Bing compares very well with Google on relevance of results. In many tests that I have run, it actually does better. You can test this for yourself using this site: bing-vs-google.com. The site will give you a split view of the results from both engines side by side. This allows you to be the judge yourself.

Another feature that you are sure to like is that the left panel of the Bing results will show you meaningful links. The next image shows the results for a search on “Elisha Cuthbert,” an actress from the television drama “24” and from various films including, “The Gil Next Door.” You will notice that the results are very good and feature several images and the most likely sources of information including Wikipedia and IMDB. The left hand panel shows links to, “Images, Biography, Wallpaper, Posters, Fan Club, Interview and Videos.” These are the most typical results that people searching for her might want.

The next image shows what a search for “Bill Gates” delivers.

You will notice that the left hand panel is different and offers, “Images, Biography, Quotes, Books, Blog and Interview.” It is this kind of subject knowledge that makes Bing far superior and cooler. If you try entering a product name, like “Nikon D90” you are presented with a chart summarizing the camera, images and meaningful result listings. The left hand panel will give you relevant links that include the manual. This is very cool. There are many other features related to image and video searches, but I will recommend that you try them for yourself and let me know what you think in my comments section.

(I must also include a shameless plug. If you are needing help with search engine optimization (SEO), please contact Alonso Consulting. We will create a comprehensive plan for making your site appear higher in search results.)

Amazon has said that they mistakenly sold copies of the digital books without having the right to sell them. This may be true, but it still does not give them the right to delete them from personally owned devices. If this were allowed to stand as something that is acceptable corporate behavior, it would enable other companies to delete items from your computer, iPod or iPhone if they deem it to be pirated or objectionable for whatever reason. Now imagine a future where there are no paper copies of books, just electronic ones on devices like the Kindle. The government is taken over by, lets say left wingers, who want to eliminate all copies of Bill O’Reilly’s conservative books. They remotely delete them and all other conservative authors that they abhor. In that scenario, what can the regular guy do to get a balanced view of the world?

Amazon’s ill advised deletion should be the catalyst for congressional action. We need a Digital Rights Amendment that specifically details the rights of purchasers of digital content. It is outrageous to allow a corporation to go into our property and delete or take back something that you have paid for. It is also dangerous to a democratic society.

Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon has apologized for his company’s action. Here is a quote from his apology:

Our “solution” to the problem was stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles. It is wholly self-inflicted, and we deserve the criticism we’ve received. We will use the scar tissue from this painful mistake to help make better decisions going forward, ones that match our mission.

I accept his apology, but I do not accept his promise that Amazon will not delete books from end user devices going forward. I believe that the time is right for a law that prevents this type of abuse from occurring again in any form and from any source. What do you think?

I have grown accustomed to several open source applications on the PC. Three of these are TrueCrypt, FileZilla and VirtualBox. These are for encrypting volumes of files, using the FTP protocol for file transfers and creating virtual machines on the PC, respectively. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that there were Mac versions of these available. I installed them and a few other very useful applications including Microsoft Office 2008 for the Mac and am at the point where I could do all my work on the Macs and ignore the PC completely.

I am quite pleased with the way the Mac OS X works. It is pleasant and fast. I find the performance on a 2 GHz, dual core Intel processor with 1 GB of memory to be superior to the 2.4 GHz Intel quad core processor with 3GB of memory on my Vista PC. The only thing that I can’t stand is the crappy Mac keyboard that is flat and missing tactile feedback. I found a way of using an old IBM Model M keyboard with a Belkin USB to PS/2 Keyboard adapter and now feel more comfortable typing on the Mac.

Apple has a good thing going for itself requiring a Mac to develop apps for the iPhone. As we make progress on some applications, I will keep you posted on the progress. If you are looking for iPhone development, please consider my company; Alonso Consulting. We will deliver excellent results at a very reasonable cost.

It continually updates from the various news sources and stores news for offline reading. You can also share a good story with your friends by sending a link via email or posting a link to Facebook or Twitter directly from the application. You can download it for free from the Apple App Store. It is developed by Fluent Mobile.

If you want to order it from Amazon click below:

To get this functionality now, in Vista you have to go to Start, Computer, select Map Network Drive and then click on the link that says: “Connect to a Web site that you can use to store your documents and pictures.” You are then taken to a wizard that walks you through a series of steps to connect to the WebDAV folder. This is not what I consider progress. Microsoft, how about a patch that fixes this downgrade to a real upgrade?

New functionality in the iPhone 3.0 software eliminates this hassle, albeit not perfectly. It now synchronizes the notes application on the phone with notes on your Outlook client, but only when the phone is physically connected to the machine with the Outlook software. It does not synchronize over the air like it does with email and contacts. This is an unfortunate limitation, but one that I will live with. To me, this was one of the most pleasant surprises of the new 3.0 software.

One improvement which is not getting a lot of attention is the built in Stocks application. This application allows you to track a portfolio of stocks. You simply look up the symbols and save it to the interface of the application. Figure 1 shows a sample portfolio with Ford Motors (F) highlighted. The upper part of the interface shows the stocks in your portfolio and their current prices (delayed 20 minutes.) You can press your finger on the colored area that shows the change in price and it will show you the percent change. This has always been the case, but the new software gives you an additional level of information. If you press a second time, you get the market capitalization of the stock.

Fig1. Stocks Base	Fig 2. Stocks News	Fig 3. Stocks Summary

The bottom portion of the screen shows a graph of the selected stock’s progress. You can select various time periods by pressing on “1d,” for today, “1w” for a week and continue increasing the time period as necessary by pressing the appropriate time period button. The new software adds the ability to scroll the entire graph region with your finger to obtain news on the selected stock. Figure 2 shows news for Ford.

Another scroll  to the right will display a summary screen on the stock. The summary screen shows the opening price, high, low,  volume, highs and market capitalization of the company. This is a very handy addition since getting this information in the past  required going to Yahoo! Finance. Figure 3 shows the summary screen.

Perhaps the most interesting improvement is the new landscape mode of the application. If you flip your iPhone (or Touch) on its side, you will see an enhanced graph of the price of the stock over time. You can then press your finger down on the display and move it to the left  or right on the display to get the price at any given point in the graph. The image to the left shows the graph with a vertical line through it showing the price at that point. That vertical line represents where my finger was on the screen when the screen was captured. If you use two fingers and spread them in opposite directions, you can  get the change in price for any period of time. The image below and to the right shows a range with a drop in value of 3.13% for Ford’s stock.

You can see the other stocks in your portfolio and stock indexes, by moving your finger along the top of the graph (where the symbol and date is displayed) to the right or left and the graph will change to the next or previous stock or index in your portfolio.

The functionality that this little application offers is just incredible. Just about the only improvement that you could ask for is real-time quotes. If that happens, then the iPhone will become and indispensible tool for anyone trading stocks seriously. My congratulations go to the developers of this handy tool. Bravo!

For the many who were probably caught unprepared for this, the FCC has established a hotline staffed by 4,000 operators to help you, You can call: 1-888-CALL-FCC. Alternatively, you can visit this government website: http://www.dtv.gov/

Does anyone remember analog cell phones, Betamax, VHS, LP record players, tape players, or heaven forbid, 8-Track players? If you do, you probably own a Sony Walkman tape player and need to upgrade to an iPod Touch. Get with it.

According to the article, most sites have millions of profiles, but very few paying customers. They have concluded that sites that offer questionnaires that supposedly match people are no better than others that allow users to post profiles and wait for emails from prospective partners. They also determined that there are certain age groups that lie more often about their age. They used statistical analysis for this conclusion. The most disturbing finding is that many inquiries go unanswered because non‑paying customers cannot answer emails without becoming paying customers. This leads to a lot of frustration and misunderstanding.

Not wanting to be left out of this trend, my company has put up a new and free dating site. It is called, “Faces to Remember.” This site will facilitate human relationships much like personal ads did in newspapers and magazines in the past. The site will make its income through ads and will not charge for any of its current services.

Try it out and let me know what you think. You can reach me at the email address, Robert (at symbol) facestoremember.com or Alonso.com

“Biography of the Dollar” by Craig Karmin is an excellent book that explains how the dollar rose to become the preeminent currency worldwide and why it is now under pressure from other currencies. The book was written and published prior to the current economic malaise, but I consider it indispensable reading for the meaningful insight that it will provide you. Through it, you will gain some understanding as to why all the economies of the world are hurting now that the United States is suffering.

The first chapter in the book deals with foreign exchange trading and the billions that are at stake. The author does this by going behind the scenes at FX Concepts; one of the leading currency trading firms in the U.S. The chapter is so well written that you feel that you are working at the company during some of the most stressful moments of trading. The second chapter covers the Bureau of Engraving and Printing which is the organization in charge of printing all the money in circulation. This chapter is fascinating and offers a unique behind-the-scenes look at how the dollar is made, distributed and tracked. The money ultimately makes its way back to the bureau where it is destroyed after it is too used to circulate. I also found the stories about crooks that have attempted to steal bills directly from the bureau riveting.

The third chapter is a history lesson on the rise of the dollar and the establishment of the Federal Reserve System. I found this chapter interesting and informative. In fact, it should be required reading for history and economics majors in college or maybe even in advanced high school history courses. The fourth chapter goes into great details into the economies of South American countries with an emphasis on Ecuador and its adoption of the dollar as its official currency. The dollarization of Ecuador led to economic stability in the country, but with some unforeseen costs. Chapter five gives us great detail about how Asian economies are now tied to the United States economy by way of their massive reserves of dollars. It also includes sobering information on how dangerous this is for both the Asian countries and the U.S.

The last chapter discusses a bank that allows United States citizens to save with the value stored in a foreign currency. The thinking behind these accounts is that the dollar is headed for a fall and having some of your assets in Euros or Yen might be a good idea. In general, the chapter deals with the potential fall of the dollar and the potential for other currencies to surpass the dollars preeminence. The current thinking is that the Yuan from China or even the Euro from the European Union may have a chance at displacing the dollar.

It will take much time for the dollar to lose its omnipotent position in the global economy, but it is not inconceivable that it could happen within a lifetime. If it does, it will have a huge impact on the country’s ability to borrow money, fund deficits and maintain trade imbalances. This is the book you should read if you want to understand economics at the global level—especially now with the global banking crises. It is thorough and informative, but does not require an advanced degree to understand. I give this book my highest recommendation and hope that new, updated versions are released regularly.

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting, Inc.

Sun acquired MySQL AB, a company distributing an open-source database server, for $1 billion about a year ago. Why Sun would have purchased a free database server for so much always eluded me. It did not make sense fiscally and did not appear to be a strategic fit–that is, unless the goal was to subvert the popular database and pass it along to Oracle.

The fact that Sun acquired MySQL may be the real reason Oracle acquired the company. If you take it a step further, maybe Sun acquired MySQL as a favor to Oracle or as a precondition for a deal. Oracle acquiring MySQL directly would not have passed the smell test with me or possibly with regulators.

This acquisition should be an indicator to the open source community that it is time to fork the MySQL development and come up with a new database server that Oracle does not control. What do you think?

Early reports are that the user interface is superb and resembles the user interface in the Zune. Unfortunately, the user interface will lack the multi-touch features found on the iPhone.  This will have the anti-PC crowd snickering.  Even Microsoft supporters, like myself, think that the omission of multi-touch is a serious deficiency. After owning and using over half a dozen Windows Mobile phones, I am an iPhone convert. It would take an amazing improvement to Microsoft’s software and its partners’ hardware for me to even consider switching back.

Microsoft’s answer to Apple’s MobileMe service is currently being tested. It is a free service that they are calling “My Phone.” The company has an opportunity to beat Apple with this service. It is supposed to offer backups of contacts and photos onto Microsoft servers.

In other related news, Microsoft announced that LG Electronics will be putting the new Windows Phone software on 50 of its smartphones. This should help Microsoft establish this new version (6.5) of Windows Mobile. Microsoft currently trails Symbian and Research in Motion, but is ahead of Apple’s iPhone in terms of smartphone market share.

Although these moves may make Microsoft more competitive and help it maintain or gain market share, it really needs a new game changing user interface and hardware combination. Playing catch-up  is not the way Apple rocketed from no market share to fourth place. Apple’s game changing iPhone is arguably in first place in terms of “cool” factor, ease of use and momentum.

We’ll see soon enough what effect the new software and relationship with LG will have, but I believe that Microsoft needs to stop designing software in number increments. It needs to set up mini-Microsofts with creative designers and programmers to create new, innovative products outside of the myopic vision of the parent behemoth.

The answer to ever growing storage needs is an external hard drive. Western Digital makes a very good 1 Terabyte drive, with USB 2.0 connections that typically sells for under $200. This drive has enough space for over 200,000 photographs, or 1,000 compressed movies. My recommendation is that you buy two identical drives and keep two copies of everything. You might even want to keep one drive at a remote location and only bring it home to keep it up-to-date.

Think about it–those pictures of your loved ones are definitely worth $400. If you are a patient shopper, you can even find the drives for about $149. The good news is that they work with both PCs and Apple computers.

Apple is the new Sony when it comes to portable music devices. Sony lost its dominance by allowing Apple to be hipper and to deliver a better music experience. It is doubtful that Sony can dethrone Apple any time soon. Apple appears to have learned from Sony’s folly and competes with itself by introducing new more exciting products each year–something that Sony did not do.

When Sony achieved some attention in the computer business, it sold expensive desktops and notebooks called VAIOs. This acronym stood for Video Audio Integrated Operation. I thought it was an excellent idea. Sony was going to make the PC an exciting platform for audio and video. This acronym was introduced in 1998, years ahead of the PC becoming a multimedia platform. Here, Sony would have had the lead and perhaps dominance if it were not for the fact that the machines were and continue to be prohibitively expensive. You can get a PC or notebook with equivalent specifications for a third to a half what Sony charges.

It seems that Sony is abandoning the original meaning of VAIO. They are now saying that it means, Visual Audio Intelligent Organizer. This new meaning will be applied to a new level of software and product integration. Who knows, maybe there is hope for Sony still? It will undoubtedly be difficult for them to catch up to Dell, HP, Lenovo and Acer in terms of products and market penetration. They have also expressed their unwillingness to compete in the netbook area where Asus and Acer are now dominating.

The Sony record on video is also haphazard. It lost the Betamax vs VHS format war in the mid 80s. This in spite of the fact that Betamax was introduced one year before VHS and was a superior format. The HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray format war has been won by Sony, but the format has not caught on. The high price and market dominance of DVDs have stalled Sony’s efforts in this market. The fact that you can purchase a DVD player with technology that scales the video to high definition levels for under $50 has certainly had an impact on Blu-Ray sales.

Likewise, Sony failed to anticipate the popularity of flat-screen televisions. It was so dominant with the Sony Trinitron TVs, that it ignored the demand for the newer technologies. It entered the market late and was forced to repackage Samsung LCDs with the Sony logo on it. When they did this, the market was dominated by Sharp–a company that was always known in the past as a tiny, low-quality competitor. Now, Sony is faced with many competitors that have better or equal products for half the cost of an equivalent Sony product.

The last consumer oriented segment that Sony is losing is the game machine market. Sony got into this market late, but managed to beat out many very successful competitors with its PlayStation (1994) and PlayStation 2 product lines. These game machines were the first to exceed sales of 100 million units. Unfortunately for Sony, it now has two very significant competitors in this market. Microsoft has entered the market with its Xbox and Xbox 360 product and Nintendo has entered the market with a low cost game machine called the Wii. Sony is getting squeezed from the bottom by the Wii and is getting pressured by Microsoft to lower the price of the PlayStation 3. Sony is in a very difficult position. The inclusion of Blu-Ray in the PlayStation 3 helped it win the format war with HD-DVD, but makes it difficult for the game machine to be competitive with Microsoft and Nintendo. We will see how this works itself out in the next year.

So I go back to the title of this post, Sony, what happened to you? How could you be dominant in so many consumer electronics product categories and lose on almost all counts? What will you do to regain your greatness? Maybe you should merge with Apple and have Steve Jobs direct your efforts.

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting, Inc.

Acer was, until recently, barely known in the United States. Those that knew of the company thought of its products as second rate and cheap. It appears that Acer is about to change that perception. The introduction of the Acer Aspire One has made me excited about notebooks for the first time in years. This tiny ultra-portable machine has all the power you need and weighs only 2.19 pounds.

I recommend this notebook to anyone who travels frequently. It is small, light and fully functional. What more can you ask for?

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting, Inc.

The Internet has changed that. Children today want information instantly. They do not use card catalogs, but instead they "Google." Because of this reality, it is increasingly difficult to get children to walk in through the door of a library. Being a father of five, I know that today’s younger generation relies heavily on the Internet for its research and information. They do not even use encyclopedias like the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Instead, they look things up in the free and user generated Wikipedia.

How can libraries thrive in such an environment? They must be seen by children as exciting destinations that are linked to the Internet and that can provide a rich multimedia experience including books, DVDs, magazines and Internet access. Many libraries have already transformed themselves into rich information centers. This is a winning strategy that must be coupled with a strong marketing message. Children and other visitors must know what they will be getting if they visit the library. That is where an excellent web site makes the difference; it is the ultimate public relations tool.

My firm, Alonso Consulting, has been designing web sites for libraries for over two years. We designed a site for the West Milford Public Library that won the New Jersey Library Association’s Public Relations award for 2007. We have also designed web sites for Palisades Park and Butler Library in New Jersey. The Palisades Park site not only showcases the library as an exciting community resource, but also presents some information in Spanish and Korean–two significant audiences in the area. Our involvement in the project included visiting the library several times to plan the site, taking photographs, creating multiple designs and developing the selected design complete with pictures, text and bright colors that would attract people. The goals of the library director, Susan Kumar, were met with the design. She wanted a site that was colorful, informative and modern in every way.

Libraries with an unattractive web site, or that look outdated, will not get the same attention as a bright, friendly site. When I search the Internet for libraries,I frequently find sites that are created by volunteers that have minimal experience with designing usable web sites, or with picking colors and pictures that work on the web. In fact, many library sites were created with a Microsoft Office FrontPage page generator several years ago. Although libraries are fortunate to have volunteers willing to help them with their efforts, they are better served by a professional effort. A web site designed by professional services firm can expand the reach of the site through the use of design principles and expertise that will draw in more viewers. A professional effort can also help the site get a higher rank in search engines like Google which will also draw in some of the younger audiences that the libraries need.

Libraries of all sizes need to present what they offer in a way that makes local "customers" want to come in and browse. If this is done, libraries will continue to be important disseminators of information and knowledge. I’m rooting for their success. I really want my children to experience the joys of reading and learning that are uniquely available in a library.

I have felt particularly disappointed lately in its performance because I purchased a mini-notebook with an Atom processor and 1GB of memory. It came with Windows XP Home SP3. I have to tell you that the little machine feels many times faster than my quad-core desktop or dual core notebook.

The latest disappointment that I have had with Vista is that it does not have a telnet client by default. I needed such a tool to test a POP3 and SMTP connection to a server that was giving me problems.

I discovered that Vista does come with a telnet client, but you have to choose to install it. It is not installed by default.

These are the steps that you need to follow:

1. Start the Control Panel from the Start Icon.
2. Click on "Programs"
3. Click on "Turn Windows features on or off"
4. Scroll through the list that is presented and check off the "Telnet Client" (see image above)
5. Click "OK"

After some disk activity, you should have the Telnet client installed and ready for use. You can access it by opening a Command Prompt and typing "telnet."

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting

The next step was to check PayPal to make sure funds were there. I logged in and saw that there were two pending eCost transactions in my account. I called eCost and told a customer service representative about the problem. She volunteered to call PayPal with me to have the pending charges removed since there were no orders in the eCost system. The PayPal representative had no idea how to handle the problem and kept insisting on getting an order number to be able to help. It was like listening to a broken record that keeps skipping back to the same line, "Sir, I need an order number." (I know I’m dating myself with this reference to "record." You can substitute "scratched CD" if you are under 30.)

Both the eCost representative and I requested a manager. We were put through to someone claiming to be a supervisor. This "customer service" representative from PayPal was even worse than the first one. Furthermore, she was unfriendly and would not help under any circumstance. She also would not transfer me to someone with more authority. I ended the call in complete frustration and requested that eCost handle the matter since their system caused the problem.

That was two and a half weeks ago and I still have the two pending charges on my PayPal account and the eCost representative has been avoiding contact with me. This is frustrating and should never happen. I am ready to close my PayPal account–an account that I have had in good standing since 2000. I also ordered the camera from Amazon.com. I have never had any customer service issue with them.

If you think this is an isolated problem, think again. There is a web site you can visit called, PayPalSucks.com. There you will see examples of other issues. In frustration, I contacted Sridhar Nagarajan, Head of Service Quality, Global Consumer and Merchant Services at PayPal through my LinkedIn.com account and received no reply. I guess service quality is not important at PayPal.

Robert Alonso
Alonso Consulting, Inc.