Blog
Thoughts and things I care to shareProjects, Projects, Projects…
If not at home, then most definitely at work. So I’ve got a lot going on at work, getting a VPN upgrade ready to move into pilot phase, participating on a revision to our project methodology, wrapping up 14 updates to our standard Windows Image, disaster recovery planning, documentatin, trying not to start on our BlackBerry project, and various other pieces of this and that. No wonder I can’t seem to find the time to keep up on the news, read my favorite blogs, and of course, blog on my own site. Never enough time, guess we’ll have to try and make some :).
What to do with an old blog
Recently I’ve been wondering what to do with the posts on my old blog(s). Before setting up shop here at RickMahn.com, I had tried out MSN Spaces, Blogger, and then WordPress.com. Each of which allowed me to learn more about what blogging is, introduced me to the blogosphere, and let me experiment with different platforms. As I learned more about the tools, I started to settle on the platform that seemed to work best for me. That was WordPress. The experience over at WordPress.com convinced me that it was the best blogging platform for me – though I wanted to have full control of the system, server, etc… so I ended up setting up my own hosted WordPress installation.
A recent post by Kent Newsome got me thinking about it, though I’ve not the same problem that he describes. I was kind of testing the waters and since I was not a pioneer in blogging, or even a real early adopter, I’ve the luxury of being able to find out what everyone else’s opinions of the free sites, the pay sites, and the “go it your own way” crowd thinks about all the blogging choices. And taking that all in, I’m glad that I can sort of start from scratch with my system of choice and work toward the future.
Now Kent is right, it will probably be up to WordPress to create a good migration tool to support migrating from a different platform to WordPress as large companies like Blogger (Google) stand to loose ad revenue from people leaving their system and want to discourage anyone from doing so. Of course WordPress has an Import utility which should word for my needs, but would not work for Kent’s as he has a lot of history on his site and would need to keep the permalinks to all existing content. And that is the real challenge, not just to Import existing posts & comments, but to migrate them in such a way as to keep all the links alive and functioning for reference, search bots, etc…
This is an opportunity for some enterprising programmer to come up with a migration tool to support the major blogging platforms. As time goes on, each platform will win or loose user favor and one thing should be simple – the migration of a blog from one platform to another. Anyone going to take up the challenge?
GMail for Domains
I’ve been using GMail for domains for about two weeks now. I’ve not moved fully to it, but have set up what will probably turn into my main email account going into the future. The service is still in “beta” – one of those long beta’s that Google is famous for – and seems quite solid to me. Of course I’d be surprised if I ran into issues – this is the same GMail system that everyone can sign up for, with the simply addition of being able to point your domain’s MX records to it.
The service comes with room for up to 10 accounts, each getting the now-expected 2GB storage and Google search capabilities built in. You also get the ability to use the chat functionality built into GMail. While I’m not a big “chat” or IM user, this functionality built into the GMail interface is fantastic. We use it at the office since we don’t have an IM system in-house and would rather not use any of the IM clients even though they can now handle the proxy/firewall setup we have. Having this simple chat tool in the browser allows us to send really short, really simple questions and get answers, though I could not see using it for long chat sessions.
The rest of the system is identical to your regular GMail account save for the ability to send invitations. Also, the first account created is the admin account which you will use to manage all other accounts for the domain. Overall the admin interface is simple and straightforward. Very easy to use.
So I recommend anyone who has a domain that needs a powerful, flexible, and affordable set of email accounts sign up for the “beta”. It may take awhile to get a response (mine took two weeks – your mileage may vary), the system itself is fantastic. As a strict Microsoft guy, I’m very fond of my new email setup for the domain your visiting right now. Check it out!
Digital Experience
Mike Torres makes a nice point on his blog Torres Talking on competing with Google or anyone else. In it he says Microsoft is successfully creating an end-to-end encompassing set of solutions that span from your local PC to mobile device, to online services, to media services & solutions with their products. Yes he’s a Microsoft employee, but coming from the MSN side of things, I think he has some interesting viewpoints on their strategy – check him out.
SBSH Pocket Weather
So I’ve been using SBSH’s Pocket Weather (PW) for about a year and a half now – from way before SBSH picked up the product and its creator Adrian Oliver. While I’ve always been fond of the app, it has recently been even more useful then ever.
From its roots as a simple app that grabs the current conditions and forecast off the ‘net, to the current version that is highly configurable with custom radar & satellite maps, animated maps, and large number of locations to configure. The community has embraced it as well with numerous skins, themes, icons, buttons, etc… to help mesh with the overall look a person may be going for on their PPC.
Since I have the T-Mobile MDA, it has become very useful – simply because PW now does not have to connect to my phone over bluetooth and dial the ‘net, the data connection is built in. This of course applies to all such applications that access the Internet, but I’m talking about PW right now. The current conditions now update every 15 minutes, the weather maps every 30 minutes. I can whip out the MDA at any time and give everyone a quick full-featured weather report when needed. Talk about awesome!
This application alone has driven a few people to consider a PPC Phone like the MDA or other HTC Wizard based platform. And don’t forget the integration with SBSH’s PocketBreeze program that allows multiple Today Screen plug-ins to use the same screen space – highly recommended! There is much more but I’d recommend reading a review on Pocket Weather, and visiting the exceptional SBSH support forums for this and all their programs.
Reviews:
Really like Box.net
I’ve become very fond of Box.net in a rather short period of time. It seems like there is tons of data on my systems at home, but as I go through all the bits piled on various hard drives, laptops, removable cards and such, I’m finding that I have very little that I could not recreate (CD/DVD tracks, downloaded installers, etc…). When I look at the bulk of what is really critical that I not loose, it is only a few GBs. So I’ve copied much of it up to my Box.net account. I’ll probably pull the trigger on one of the premium accounts soon as I do have more than 1GB of data to keep.
What I really like about Box.net is that I’ve finally got an off-site, secure repository for my data. I can back up all my web sites to this repository and greatly reduce any concerns that I’ll loose anything on any of the sites. Very handy.
Thanks Box.net!
WordPress 2.0.2 Update
So there is an update to WordPress out now (v2.0.2) that fixes some security issues:
Please check out the update at WordPress.org
Down with the mob!
Robert Scoble commented today about the rising noise in the blogosphere. A mob of people who seem intent on simply flaming and blasting or arguing their way through many blogs. The trend is disturbing and is discouraging to many who have helped build the tech blogosphere that we know today – and many like me who have grown from reading the ‘A List’.
Through Scoblizer and many other blogs, I’ve been able to learn many new things, find the interest and intent to become a blogger (whether I’m good or bad at it) and try to add to the conversation, to add value as I have gotten out of the blogosphere.
Here’s to more intelligent conversation about technology, the implementation of tech, and how it enriches our lives.
Box.net – for real?
I’ve been telling people over the last few months that the next real important piece of Web 2.0 will be online storage. Had actually contemplated how a person could go about jumping into the fold and building a site and service – but alas it would not be (I have not the skills nor the investors neede:)).
However, I am glad to see new online services start to pop up. Like Box.net for example.  They have crafted a nice AJAXy interface that is simple to use and easy to see what you have stored there. With multiple pricing plans starting at $5/month for 5GB, it looks like a nice service to try out.
You can sample the service yourself with a free 1GB account. I’m currently filling up my new account with a number of files I’ve been meaning to back up for months now (no really I have meant to…). The process was simple, the results as I expected. You can upload by browsing with a standard Windows file browse dialog, or their Drag-n-Drop window that allows you to copy whole folder structures at at time – very nice.
Good luck guys, I’m going to continue to use the service and see if I can find enough data to upgrade to a larger account.
Also, check out Russell Beattie’s post on Box.net!
AKU2 for T-Mobile MDA
Now that I’ve got the T-Mobile MDA in my hands, the next obvious question is whether the Messaging and Security Feature Pack for Windows Mobile (aka AKU2) will be offered by Tmo. AKU2 contains the update for Windows Mobile 5 that changes the behavior of “push email”. The change allows the push-mail functionality that shipped with Windows Mobile 5 to behave more like the BlackBerry.
The original implementation of push-mail in Windows Mobile 5 had the mail system send a specially formatted SMS message to the WM5 device. The SMS message instructed the device to initiate an ActiveSync session with the defined server. The ActiveSync session would then pull the email to the device during the synchronization process.
With the new update, the process has changed so that the system never uses SMS messages to do this. Many users were put off by the need for an SMS package on top of the data package, on top of the cell plan. In the new system, the WM5 device keeps synchronizes itself with the server over the air.
Once the sync is complete the device sends an HTTP request to the server asking for any changes since the last sync – the catch here is that the request has a time out of (I seem to remember) 30 minutes. If the server has an update to any of the synced data during that time, it will return the request to the device indicating new data. A new sync is done and a new HTTP request is sent to the server again waiting 30 minutes. If there are no new data updates and the request times out, the device simply re-issues the request. This sequence goes on unless either the device or server is taken offline, or the configuration is dismantled.
For the new system to work, the device will make enormous use of the data connection. While the device will be connected almost all the time, data transfer only happens during the request and sync periods. If you have an unlimited data plan, that really takes the concern out of the picture cost-wise. Also, this is fairly battery efficient as simply keeping the data pipe open doesn’t use much power, only when transmitting/receiving.
It’ll be interesting to see how well this system works out. T-Mobile just released the MDA a few weeks ago so I’m sure they don’t have the AKU2 update pending too soon, and I currently have my MDA simply polling my email accounts on a 15 minute cycle. There are real needs for push mail like the BlackBerry and Microsoft’s implementation, but it is not a requirement for me at this time. Neat stuff!
I hope the leadership of the Republican Party will take his word seriously. Because this is exactly right.
This is very simple: only Americans citizens should be allowed to vote in American elections.
The SAVE America Act is common sense, and we need to pass it now!
I don’t recall you complaining when gas was $5.00 under Biden.
Hypocrisy much?
Please RT!
This Middle Ages bullshit is a cancer on the planet👇👇🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸