November 10th, 2003
Sorry for the lack of updates but I’ve spent the last couple of weeks working on the Sony TR forums site and finally have time to work on cleaning up this site and adding new content. I still have reviews in the wings and some new cool software that I’m playing with.
I also recently upgraded to Office 2003 and it’s really nice. I specifically wanted to use Outlook 2003 since it’s improved in terms of performance and usability features. My big complaint is that Microsoft still hasn’t fixed their IMAP support in Outlook. It’s atrocious! Basically, you can’t have it check multiple IMAP accounts on the same server because it craps out after checking two accounts…and I have 7 accounts I want to check. The crazy thing is that their own Outlook Express mail client works flawlessly with multiple IMAP accounts. You would think they would have borrowed the threading code from the OE team and work it into Outlook. The worse thing is that this problem has existed in the previous version which has been out for 2 years.
So, other than that issue…the program rocks although i still need to keep OE open to check my other accounts. More updates on the way…as always.
October 21st, 2003
If you’re like me and you have a lot of power strips around and you’re constantly frustrated by companies that ship consumer electronics/computer products with AC adapters then you’ll love the Liberator by Zio TEK.
These cables allow you to fully utilize all of the plugs on your power strip and keeps AC adapters from hogging more than one plug. I recently purchased two packs (10 pieces) and I love them. They are well built and high quality cables. They give you about one extra foot so there’s room for all of your devices.
They even have a plus version that adds a pass through in addition to the extension. I found these items at http://www.cyberguys.com for a decent price. I highly recommend these items as it’s a lot better than buying more surge suppressors and daisy chaining them.
October 17th, 2003
Taking a break from working on the forums, I banged out two new reviews of some smaller items that I had been wanting to mention.
First is a notebook stand called the Lapvantage Dome. It’s a neat little thing that totally copies the iMac look. Functionally, it’s different and it works well. The fact that it matches my notebook and some related accesories satisfies the aesthetic needs.
Secondly, I take a look at Microsoft’s Bluetooth Mouse which I’ve been using for several months now. The mouse itself is great but it comes with a crappy Bluetooth transceiver that could be so much more.
Anyways, I’ll be back to working on some forum stuff and then get back to all of my backlogged reviews. I’m targetting a few software titles worth mentioning so it should be a good read for all. Check out the side bar for the latest reviews…
October 15th, 2003
There are now forums on this site! You’ll notice a new link in the Site Navigation and now you can smoothly go into the forums and come back for the content. Woohoo!
Enjoy!
October 10th, 2003
I saw this article over at CDRInfo about a new copy protection scheme called Fade created by Codemasters and Macrovision that slowly degrades the playing experience of a pirated game by simulating scratches on a disc. If the software detects that it’s not the original disc with these software scratches then it starts to make the game behave oddly supposedly encouraging a person to go out and buy the product.
What happens if the disc is actually physically scratched? What happens then? Perhaps they’ve found a way around it. Perhaps not.
The big issue here is that this kind of “anti-piracy” measure is yet another one that doesn’t help solve the problem and instead, inconveniences the legitimate customer. The message it sends is everyone is inherently a criminal so we need to implement this. A lot of companies could learn a lot from Stardock Systems and their stance on the topic. It’s a good read and it’s good to know that at least one company out there has the right idea.
All of these hair-brained schemes make Microsoft’s product activation idea seem like not too bad of an idea. I didn’t like the idea of it in the beginning but it hasn’t been an issue overall. I just don’t like the whole please read me 50 numbers and letters over the phone and I’ll read you 60 back (or something like that).
