Once again the most amazing consumer product Microsoft has ever created, Windows Home Server, has saved my family [disclaimer].
Today I was in a meeting and I got a text message from my 15 year old daughter. It read (spelling and txt errors verbatim):
"daddddd o my god. i think i just deleated all my pictures from freshmen year. please call meee!”
I texted her back “Ok, don’t touch anything. I’ll call you when I can.”
When I got out of my meeting I called her and asked what happened. She said she was deleting some bad photos and accidentally selected ALL of her photos and deleted them.
From work I used Windows Home Server remote access to connect to her machine and verified they had been deleted (and weren’t in the recycle bin…did she hold the shift key down? We’ll never know). I fired up the Home Server console, selected the backup from last night and about a minute later I had an Explorer window open with her files. I simply dragged the files from the back up to her My Pictures folder and after about 20 minutes of copying everything was back. The file restore worked perfectly.
This is not the first time Windows Home Server has made me look good to my family. It’s also very good for upgrading PCs.
The people that built Windows Home Server are geniuses. If you haven’t already bought one there are several really great models available from companies like HP and Acer. For example:
HP EX485 MediaSmart Home Server by Hewlett-Packard
Roughly $500
HP LX195 MediaSmart Home Server by Hewlett-Packard
Roughly $380
Acer Aspire AH340-UA230N Home Server by Acer
Roughly $400
For a fun introduction to the concept of home servers check out www.stayathomeserver.com. Make sure you read the highly acclaimed children’s book “Mommy, Why is There a Server in the House?” (you can read it online, or buy a copy at amazon.com).
[disclaimer: I drove the concept and product development of Windows Home Server; so I’m very biased]
Here’s a list of tips, tricks, and hacks for the Amazon Kindle that I’ve uncovered. Some of these are valid for the original Kindle and some are valid for the Kindle 2 and Kindle DX.
Keyboard Shortcuts
- Alt+Shift+M – Start a game of Minesweeper. While in the game you can press G for a version of “Go”
- Alt-T – Shows time (only on the original Kindle; does not work on the Kindle 2 or Kindle DX…booo!)
- Alt-Shift-o - In picture viewer, set the current picture as the screensaver
- Alt-Shift-G – Take a screenshot of the currently displayed screen. A .GIF file will be created in the \documents folder (plug the device in to your computer to access).
- Hold the power slider for 5 seconds – Reset (Kindle 2 and Kindle DX only).
Storing & Viewing Pictures
The Picture Viewer on the Kindle 2 and Kindle DX is disabled by default and you enable it by creating the \pictures folder on the device. After you’ve created a sub-directory (you can’t put photos in the root of \pictures!) press Alt-A to tell the device to refresh the listing.
To copy pictures to your Kindle 2 or Kindle DX and be able to view them, connect your device via USB and create a directory named “pictures” in the root of the mounted drive. Create sub-directories with your pictures in that folder and each sub-directory will show up as a “book” on your home page on the device.
The Picture Viewer is really slow and clunky which explains why it’s a hidden feature…
I found a tool called Mangle that will reformat pictures to the right size (600x800 for the Kindle 2 and 825x1200 fore the Kindle DX) as well as convert them to grayscale. This makes loading them quicker and they take up less space on the device. Mangle is designed for people who like to read Manga (I’m not a fan personally) but works well enough for just converting pictures.
Calculator
In the search box enter simple math formulas (e.g. 2+2) and it will show you the result of the calculation in the search results. It supports basic math & trig functions and you can use parenthesis for grouping.
Displaying the Time
On the original Kindle you could display the time by pressing Alt-T. This no longer works on the Kindle 2 or Kindle DX which really bums me out. However, I did discovered that you can enter “@time" as a search (see below) and it will display the date & time in a popup.
Search
In any search box you can prefix your search phrase with “@” commands. To enter that @ character on the 2 and DX you need to type some other character first to get the search box to come up and then backspace over it, then use the SYM key to bring up the symbol menu.
- @help (searches help)
- @web (searches the web using Google…boo! It should use Bing!)
- @wiki (searches wikipedia)
- @store (searches the Kindle store)
- @time (shows the time)
Run Diagnostics
While in settings:
Type 411 to show diagnostics information.
Type 611 for even more diagnostics (something called a diagnostic data service call)
Last year I discovered sci-fi author Peter F. Hamilton and have now read the following books by him on my Amazon Kindle 2:
It’s taken me a while to read all these because I read a few other books in between (see list below) and because they are all LONG. The Night’s Dawn Trilogy (a single download for the Kindle including all 3 books) is something like 42 million pages long. I thoroughly enjoyed it but remember thinking “when will it end!?!?”.
Hamilton has a knack for creating intricately detailed, enormously scaled, sci-fi universes. The first three books cover a universe he calls the “Confederation Universe” that will stretch your mind across wide expanses of the galaxy characters ranging from sentient spacecraft to Al Capone.
The other four books (the 3rd book of the Void trilogy, The Evolutionary Void, is not out yet) cover a different, yet equally complex and deep, universe called the Commonwealth. I read the Void books first, and then went back to read Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained…it would be better to read them in order. A major theme of this universe is humanity being on the cusp of the singularity which is a topic I dig.
In any case, I highly recommend his stuff.
Other books I’ve read in the last year or so…
Use of Weapons (5 stars), Camouflage (4 stars), The Eschelon Vendetta (3 stars), Common Sense (4 stars), Treasure Island (5 stars), The Lost Fleet: Relentless (3 stars), and Liberty & Tyranny (3 stars)
Yesterday my new Amazon Kindle DX arrived and here are my initial impressions. I’ve owned a Kindle since November 2007 when they were first released. We currently own 4 of them: CJ has an original, Julie has a Kindle 2, and I now have both a Kindle 2 and the new DX. The moment Amazon announced the Kindle in the fall of 2007 I was enamored with the concept and have been a fan ever since. The industrial design & some parts of the user interfaces are awful, but the reading experience is incredible and the e-commerce aspect makes it almost too easy to discover and buy new books.
I had a rough week and was looking forward to a beer when I got home. I grabbed a 1554 and then saw the box from Amazon. Perfect. The device came with about 2/3 a charge so I was able to start using it immediately. I had already sent some books and documents to it (it showed up in my Kindle account on Amazon weeks ago) and they immediately showed up after I turned it on.
The screen feels (and IS) much bigger than the Kindle and Kindle 2’s. It has the same amazing readability in normal and bright light. I wondered if screen repaints/refreshes would be noticeably slower given the larger number of pixels, but as it turns out it feels the same as the Kindle 2 (which is good enough).
I brought up the Kindle store on the device and noticed they had some Kindle DX optimized content. Graphics intensive content on the original Kindle and Kindle 2 is marginally useful at best due to the limited screen size. I figured a book on digital photography would test the limits, so I “bought” the preview of The Digital Photography Book and read the first chapter. I was very, very impressed with how good the images and diagrams were. So good that I actually bought the full version of the book.
Next I purchased Charles Stross’ The Jennifer Morgue which I had been meaning to read for a while and read a few chapters with the sun over my shoulder. A complete pleasure with great readability! I wasn’t sure if I would like reading on the bigger screen…I found my ability to read fast was improved even more on the small Kindle screen size and I was worried that my eyes would tire scanning more. However, the DX is great in this regard. The best way to describe it is to compare the 6” version to a paperback book and the 9.7” version to a hard-back book.
The DX does not have page forward/back buttons on the left side; only on the right. I am not convinced that this is a better setup than the Kindle 2 because it’s just simpler.
The overall size of the device is great. It is no thicker than the Kindle 2 and is super light.
My summary review is: I have a feeling I’m going to prefer using the DX over the 2 and that my 2 may end up being given to someone as a gift.
Amazon continues to impress me. This time it is their customer service. This week CJ somehow (he claims he has no idea how it happened…Really!?!?) broke the screen on the original Kindle I had handed-down to him. It was completely toast.
At the same time I realized that my Kindle 2 was not working right in sunlight. The text on the screen would appear faded if there was direct sunlight on it. Covering a portion of the page with a shadow while the screen repainted would cause that portion to be super clear while the rest was faded. I checked the Amazon forums and found this is a known issue with some Kindle’s. Julie’s Kindle 2 does not have this problem.
So I called Amazon’s customer support # and within 5 minutes had an email from Amazon with return shipping stickers and the knowledge that a replacement original (refurbished) Kindle and a new Kindle 2 was on the way. Since the original is out of warrantee I have to pay $180 for the replacement, but I think that’s totally worth it.
I didn’t have to wait on hold, the support agent spoke perfect English, and had great customer support skills. So Amazon’s Kindle support is another reason why I love Amazon.com.
Next up: My new Kindle DX should arrive in the next week (I have a shipping confirmation that says I’ll get it June 12. I’ll post my findings.
[Update: 6/12/2009 Fixed links]
I love digital photography but not so much that I feel like I need to become an Adobe Lightroom whore. I just like really simple tools that just work. I've found Windows Live Photo Gallery simply Just Works for 100% of what I do with digital photos (which is probably 80% of what hard core amateurs do).
For instance, take this panoramic stitch. I shot 6 photos with my D80 yesterday of my son's Lacrosse team lined up thanking the crowd. With literally 30 seconds of work in Windows Liver Photo Gallery I created this amazing panorama. It took another 30 seconds to upload it to Flickr using Gallery's built-in Flickr support. I spent more time typing this than I did on getting the photo done.
That's how it should be. Way to go Live team!
Amazon is brilliant. They released a version of their Kindle reader for the iPhone the other day and it’s just brilliant. Wow.
I have an iPhone (that I currently don’t use as a phone; my job requires that I play with other phones) and I immediately downloaded it to check out. It is very cool.
What I like:
- Super easy to download books you’ve already purchased for your Kindle onto your iPhone.
- I can read a bit of a novel anywhere I am because my phone is always with me, but my Kindle is not.
- “Whispersync” syncs the page you are on between all of your reading devices (I have 2 Kindle’s and the iPhone app). The other day I started reading Joe Hadleman’s Camouflage on my Kindle 2. I was about 50 pages in when I had to put it down. I had to pick my daughter up at dance and while waiting I pulled out my iPhone, brought up the Kindle app and it took me right to the location I was at in Camouflage. Ditto when I got back to using the real device tonight.
- The user experience is simple and pretty.
What I don’t like:
- On the Kindle device for whispersync to work you have to remember to tell it to sync before you put it down and when you pick it up again. This is especially important if you turn the wireless off on the Kindel to preserve battery power. I don’t want to have to think about keeping the devices in sync, but with this scheme I have to.
- The reading experience on the iPhone SUCKS. While Amazon did a nice job with the fonts and page turning animation, LCD screens are just really, really hard on the eyes for any sort of prolonged, serious reading. The Kindle device is just soooooo much better (indistinguishable from a paper book).
- The battery on the iPhone just drains, and drains as you read. I haven’t pushed it all the way yet, but it looks like I’d be able to read for maybe 2 hours max on the iPhone. The Kindle lasts for days and days.
I think Amazon views Kindle for the iPhone as an accessory to the Kindle. I think some people may use it without purchasing a Kindle, but I’m betting they won’t sell very many books that way…simply because the reading experience just isn’t that good. But people who already own Kindle’s will love it. I also bet Amazon builds versions for the other popular smartphone operating systems like Windows Mobile soon…
I just finished Iain M. Banks’ Use of Weapons on my Amazon Kindle 2. First book I read (actually I started it on my original Kindle and finished it on the Kindle 2).
I don’t think I’ve read a Banks book before so I’m not sure where all the context around the characters is, but I’m guessing he uses “The Culture” and other aspects of this universe a lot because the thinking on it is quite rich for one book.
I really enjoyed the fact that this is a multi-plot book with strong character development. It un-winds well and kept me engaged. The end was a bit of a shocker…I won’t spoil it for you.
If you like space opera’s you’ll probably like this. I did.
(Oh, and the Kindle 2 rocks. I’m very happy with it. And my son is excited for me to hand my original down to him <g>).
It looks like Amazon is very close to announcing and making available a 2nd generation Kindel electronic book device. Did you know you can pre-order it now!?!
As you know, I love my Kindle. Besides my phone and laptop it is, by far the electronic gadget I use the most an is easily my favorite. I am a veracious reader and I can't image buying or reading books "the old way" any more.
But the version 1 device has some faults (which I discuss here). I'm really excited to see this 2nd generation "v2" device come along and I hope it fixes the shortcomings of v1 and introduces some new cool stuff. I've already ordered one knowing that demand will be high and Amazon will likely sell out quickly (they completely sold out of the v1 devices last November and have not been selling ANY since!).
You too can order a v2 unit now here. Note that it says:
Availability: Expected to ship in 2 to 4 weeks. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
"2 to 4" weeks coincides with the widely anticipated launch of the Kindle 2... I just ordered one using One-Click and the order status reads:
Items not yet shipped:
Delivery estimate: February 26, 2009 - March 10, 2009
- 1 of: Kindle: Amazon's Wireless Reading Device
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Works for me.
Anyway here's some pictures from Engadget:
We're not going to call it official yet, but a bunch of very real-looking Kindle 2 press images just hit the tubes, and we've got to say we're pretty convinced. Although the device itself looks basically the same as in those previously-leaked shots we saw back in October, there are some surprises in store: it's way thinner, the back is apparently made of metal and there are stereo speakers at the bottom. We'll admit to missing the polarizing ultra-80s look of the original, but this thing looks pretty sweet -- too bad it's still going to set you back $359 when it arrives on February 24. We'll find out what's what for sure on Monday -- in the meantime check couple more shots after the break and way more at the read link.
I don't understand. I keep blogging about Cheesburger Brown and his amazing sci-fi books but he remains un-discovered. You would have thought this blog, which is read by billionsdozens of people, would have elevated him to Asimov status by now.
Oh, well, I'll just keep trying.
Seriously, his stuff is really good and almost all of it is FREE:
- The Darth Side: Memoirs of A Monster (Darth Vader's Blog). Written in 2005 leading up to the release of The Revenge of The Sith. Hilarious.
- Simon of Space. One of my favorite science fiction novels of all time. Unfortunately it's no longer available on line/free, but you can buy paper versions of it here. I have an autographed copy.
- The Bikes of New York. One of his classic free novellas.
- The Secret Mathematic. His current serial. He posts a new chapter about every week. He's currently up to chapter 28 (which I completed last night and which motivated me to post this).
My prior blog posts on his stuff are here.
[Update June 15, 2009 – Updated with Bing info]
Use Bing! Bing is sooo much better. Yes, I know "Google" has become a verb but the reality is
- Bing’s search results are (finally) better.
- Live's mapping (http://maps.bing.com) is far superior. Better directions, better satellite imaging, better local information, better looking, and easier to use.
- The bing.com search page loads just as fast as Google's and is far more interesting (see below; every day the image changes twice...during the Olympics it's a cool Olympic photo each time).
- You're taking money from my kid's mouths when you use Google. (The only people who read my blog are my family and friends).
Oh and while I'm shilling for my company's cool products, if you have a Windows PC that includes Windows Media Center (Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows Vista Home Premium, or Windows Vista Ultimate) you absolutely HAVE TO at least try watching some events with it! Go here to learn more:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/mediacenter/olympics.mspx
The user experience is really, really good, but most importantly you can watch hundreds of hours of Olympic coverage in HD quality anytime you want.
If you have an XBox360 as well, Windows Media Center and your XBox360 work VERY well together via something we call "Windows Media Center Extender". The entire Media Center experience (including live TV or this cool Olympics application) are available on your XBox360 over your home network. I was instrumental in inventing this technology, so I'm a bit biased, but trust me...it really is great!
For example, I was able to watch the US Women's soccer team beat Japan by simply turning on my XBox360 and pressing the "Green button" on the remote...3 days after the event.
I'm pretty vocal about products, services, and stores that I love. I'm just as vocal about those that frustrate me. I've had an iPhone 3G since last Thursday and, frankly, I'm frustrated by it. So frustrated that I'm composing a pissy review in my head that I plan on posting here soon.
But I want to skewer it right, so I'm prepping by posting this rant which is about just how great Amazon.com is.
Charlie's Top-Ten list of why Amazon.com rocks:
10. Consistent UI
9. Always available
8. Great performance
7. If I want it, they have it
6. The reviews are super-useful
5. DRM-free music
4. Recommendations actually work
3. Amazon Prime saves me tons of money and just makes me feel good
2. The Amazon Kindle has changed my reading life
1. They give me free money (for example, if you sign up for Prime by clicking here, I get $12 that I can use to buy more junk).
There. How's that for love?
Now watch for my post where I rip Apple and the iPhone a new one...
From the Windows Home Server Team Blog:
The team is pleased to announce that Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 has been released to manufacturing (RTM) and is now available on the Microsoft Download Center!
This update fixes the data corruption bug that was found in Windows Home Server in December (and has great new functionality too).
From Wikipedia, regarding the song “Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead!” from the movie The Wizard of Oz:
The Munchkins then sing the march-style number "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead". After its one verse, there is another interruption, as the city officials need to determine if the witch is "undeniably and reliably dead". The coroner avers, and the mayor reiterates Glinda's advice to the Munchkins to spread the news. The Munchkins oblige, and sing the one verse of "Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead" again.
Last December, the Windows Home Server was haunted by our own Wicked Witch of the East.
She showed up just as we were trying to put the final touches on our Power Pack 1 release and she was so nasty that we had no choice but to hold off on releasing Power Pack 1 until we could determine that she was “undeniably and reliably dead”. Because of how ugly she was we had to make sure that all of her blood relatives were dead too.
I’m extremely (I mean *really*) excited to be in a position where we can finally sign the song declaring that the wicked witch is dead: Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead! (mp3).
It has been a grueling time getting this release out but I am very gratified that it's done, and that we did it right.
An old co-worker of mine, Sandro Menzel, has been doing an amazing job capturing fine automobiles and then doing really great digital touchup. Check out his Flickr collection here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/smenzel/
In 1997 I had "Stongard", a clear 3M film applied to the lower 12" of the hood and other leading edges of my 1988 Porsche 911 Carrera to protect the paint. After 11 years the film started to yellow and corners were coming up in spots so I had it professionally removed (to avoid risking having the clear coat come up).
Unfortunately the edge of the film on the hood left a horizontal line all the way across the hood (about 2" above the crest). I've spent the last 3 weeks learning how to fix paint blemishes like this. Tonight I declare victory! As you can see from this picture there is no line and the paint is absolutely perfect (modulo 21 years and 30K miles of wear). It took an incredible amount of work to get here, mostly because I had to learn along the way.
First, I tried to remove the "scratch" using my Griot's orbital polisher. After many hours of hard work I really made no significant progress, even using Griot's #1 polish. I consulted with a professional detailer who has done our other cars (Aaron at 3LG Auto Detailing). He informed me that while the Groit's polisher is good for "weekend warriors" it really lacks in cutting ability.
But I have always been very scared of using commercial polishing machines because I have heard how easy it is to permanently damage paint with them. Aaron informed me that there is a "professional" quality "dual action orbital" polisher that blows the Groit's machine away: The Flex XC 3401 VRG. I ordered one along with a Manzerna polish and pad kit that Aaron recommended. They arrived yesterday.
I also came to learn that to really remove blemishes like the one I was dealing with polishing would likely just keep "pushing" the scratch down into the clearcoat. And that I needed to wetsand to really get it out. This scared the crap out of me. I couldn't imagine rubbing SAND PAPER, wet or not, on the finish of my beloved 21 year old car. What if I screwed up?
Youtube to the rescue. I found a bunch of really good videos on Youtube that demonstrate how to safely and effectively wetsand auto paint. Here are the basic steps I followed:
- Wetsand using 2000 grit wetsand paper using a flexible sanding block. Light pressure, lots of water, moving at a 45 degree angle to the scratch. Only a few strokes at a time, checking progress to ensure I didn't go to deep.
- Polish with Menzerna PowerGloass Compound using the Flex 3401. Compound is a very aggressive (according to Aaron on a scale of 1-10 it's an 8) polish that removes the wetsand marks.
- Polish with Menzerna Intensive polish (5 on the 1-10 scale). I did the entire front clip (hood/fenders) starting with this step (the rest of the car looks great from the work I did with the Griot's products).
- Polish with Menzerna Nano Polish (PO 106). 3 on the 1-10 scale.
- Polish with Menzerna Micro Polish (PO 85RD). 0.5 on the 1-10 scale.
I actually did a few of these steps multiple times because, as Aaron showed me, I was not using the Flex polisher correctly. I was running it a too low an RPM (he suggests full speed) with way too much polish and I was not letting the polish "let go".
Finally I applied a coat of my favorite Carnauba wax: One Grand Blitz wax, dressed the rubber, cleaned the glass and took this picture:
When removing the crest on the hood it broke. So I ordered a new OEM crest from Pelican Parts and installed it:
I'm having new film applied next week. This time I'm having the entire hood covered. It's great to know that the paint finish under that film will be absolutely perfect.
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