The Professor's Notes

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These items, and more, on Real Tech 17

* Demystifying Apple’s Mobile Me?

* iPhone and Android users are “the same” Or at least, their usage patterns are.

* Alternatives to iPhone/Android? What is out there?

* Why is the iPod Touch (not “iTouch!”) so popular? Article

* Is a tablet device (Apple’s?) in your future?  Chris Brady thinks so.

* What is the Best File System for external drives ?

Book Mentions:

* FreakonomicsSuperFreakonomicsBeyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World.passPORT for home docks and Car Adapter

* TONY: ATEQ VT 10 TPMS Trigger Tool

* Logitech Harmony Remote : 

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These items, and more, on Real Tech 16

* The Kodak Zi8 pick from Episode 11? Sold out–nationwide!

* Batteries Plus will (or can) replace iPhone and iPod batteries, according to Jason

* Can I (Should I) set up two separate networks in my house? Go with 802.11 N, B, or G?

* Microsoft Tag “Linking Real Life to the Digital World”

* Microsoft ordered to pay $290M, stop selling Word.

* Microsoft Losing the Fight For Consumers, says analyst.

* Facebook masks worse privacy with new interface / Wired.com – How to Unfacebook yourself

Picks of the week:

Steve: Red Laser : What if your iPhone could read barcodes?

Tony:  HP Bluetooth Noise Canceling Headphones

Joe Tillman: TextFree Unlimited for iPod Touch and iPhone.

Past Picks of the Week now available at: http://tinyurl.com/RTPicks

Show Voicemail: 814.808-JOE1  (814.808.531)

Tony is: [email protected]  or twitter.com/tonypittman

Steve is: [email protected] or twitter.com/scmprofessor and he blogs athttp://theprofessornotes.com

I have upgraded my blog to WordPress 2.9 and along with that, updated the database to mySQL 5.0.  Ah, if only I could tell you the trials and tribulations.

Oh wait, I do talk about it–in this short podcast!

Enjoy!

And then–tell me what YOU would like us to talk about at the other podcast “Real Tech for Real People” over at http://getthenext.com

The latest (and longest) Episode is now up. We had a full house by the end of the episode, with both my Brother and Stevie Rocco joining us (Stevie joins about 2/3 of the way through to talk Droid with us!)

Click here to listen to Real Tech 15

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These items, and more, on Real Tech 15  (to see the links to the stories, go visit http://getthenext.com)

* Saving Electricity

* AT&T to “incentivize” iPhone owners to reduce usage?

* Google about to launch “un-locked” phone at a GREAT price?

* Apple to launch tablet in Spring 2010: Link to article

* Scosche adapter for charging iPhone 3G and 3Gs with older devices

Picks:

Josh : Website Pick : Knowem – Allows you to check for your username across multiple sites at one time.

Tony: iGoogle: http://google.com/ig – Using the iGoogle home page to organize content.

Chris: Lose It! iPhone app to track eating habits; Dragon Dictation, iPhone app. So impressive it has me going to order the desktop version. {This just in! Dragon Search [iTunes link] has just gone live on the App Store for the iPhone. You can set what you want to search, apparently, including Bing!}

Stevie Rocco: Posterous.com manage your social networking stuff.-

Steve: mSecure, for iPhone, Windows and Mac.

Past Picks of the Week now available at: http://tinyurl.com/RTPicks

Our websites to visit:

http://theprofessornotes.com – Steve Brady

http://targuman.org/blog/ [or http://engage.shc.psu.edu/] – Chris Brady

Show Voicemail: 814.808-JOE1 (814.808.531)

Tony is: [email protected] or twitter.com/tonypittman

Steve is: [email protected] or twitter.com/scmprofessor

In episode 10 of “Real Tech for Real People” Tony Pittman and I talk about iPhone security problems (currently only a problem for jailbroken iPhones) as well as the move to “DVD/CD-less computers” and we ask the question “Do you use the DVD or CD player on your computer?”

That is really an interesting question.  Whether the desktop or a notebook/netbook computer, we were curious just how often those drives are used.  I use mine fairly regularly, but it is generally to create DVDs of the slideshows that I make for the HS Swim and Water Polo teams.  Other than that, the occasional file backup, and I too join the ranks of those who aren’t using them very often.

We also talked a bout about Windows 7 highlighting the 77 Windows 7 tips, and the challenges I had with the installation.  Of course, I had to later admit that some (um, most?) of the later problems were due to my failing to fully install one of the DDR3 memory sticks.

We had fun, and continue to enjoy talking about the technology that real people like to use.

We would love it if you would listen, and leave us feedback.

Click here to listen.

Click here to subscribe via iTunes.

Write us at:

Tony Pittman:  [email protected]

Steve Brady: [email protected]

Or call and leave us a voicemail at:

814-808-JOE1 (yes, we are both Joe Paterno fans.  Of course, Tony also played for Paterno!)

I have been somewhat negligent in writing about our Real Tech for Real People podcast that I do with Tony Pittman every week.  I will try to recover here, and hit some of the highlights in the past few weeks.

Earlier this month we recorded Episode 9 of our podcast (listen here or download/subscribe through iTunes.)  The highlights of that week included a discussion of “Femtocell” technology, which essentially means installing a box in your home, connected to your internet (cable or FiOS) that creates a micro-cellphone tower in your own home.  It only transmits voice, but the ability to make cellphone calls in homes when you previously couldn’t get a strong (or any) signal is quite appealing.

We also discussed the new Apple line-up including the 27″ iMac and the Magic Mouse.

Finally, I shared my first “pick of the week” in this podcast.  I selected the Mophie Juice Pack Air.  This is a case that not only provides protection for the iPhone but by including a lithium ion battery doubles the battery life of your iPhone.

We talked about a number of other things, including Tony’s pick of the week.  So, check out the podcast, and let us know what you would like us to research and talk about!  Write us at:

Tony Pittman:  [email protected]

Steve Brady: [email protected]

Or call and leave us a voicemail at:

814-808-JOE1 (yes, we are both Joe Paterno fans.  Of course, Tony also Playing for Paterno: One Coach, Two Eras: a Father and Son's Personal Recollections of Playing for JoePa

I have entered into a new podcasting venture with Tony Pittman (@TonyPittman).  We have decided to start talking about tech from the perspective of real people, outside the “tech bubble” of Silicon Valley.  Our goal with our podcast is to talk with regular users, and focus on regular technology.

Listen, join in, and let us know how you use technology, and what you would like us to talk about each week.  We are already lining up guest speakers, so tell us who you want to hear!

If the other link doesn’t work, listen here

On Tuesday, I gave a presentation on using collaborative tools as an integrated part of our research processes.  I recorded that presentation, and have it available here as the 22nd podcast in my series here.

I broke the presentation into three areas of collaboration:

1.  Data gathering (del.icio.us)

2.  Structuring of the research (wiki)

3.  Writing (Google Docs, Microsoft Live Mesh)

(note:  I say in the presentation that Live Mesh is Windows only.  Turns out I was a few versions wrong. It is now available for Mac OSX as well.)

Much of these tools allow us to work asynchronously, sharing information as we find it, and learning what our team has discovered as we have the time.  That said, I also talk about using communication tools such as Skype and Google Talk to work synchronously with your team when geographically separated.  I briefly referred to Twitter, but unfortunately, as much as I love Twitter (and you can find me on Twitter as @SCMProfessor) I don’t see it as a real engine to facilitate collaboration in conducting research.)

I also identified a few things that collaboration in research does:

1.  Fosters cooperation rather than competition

2.  Enables other researchers to share in the research (long discussion about what is and isn’t the outcome of our research).

3.  Speeds the cycle time of research (idea-data-analysis-draft-publication)

Finally, we discussed that the tools should:

1.  Be freely available

2.  Easily understandable audit trail

3.  Provide some levels of security

In the presentation I refer to a few documents (as Google Docs) that I have built to help my students collaborate in their research and project efforts.  First, I have the “Tools and Tutorials” document, where I provide links to not only the tools listed above, but links to helper sites for using these tools, as well as links to “really cool stuff.”

I also mentioned the document I give my students to guide them in the development of their podcast projects.  I even have a 12 step program for them!

So go, listen to the podcast, and please–come back and let me know how YOU are using Web 2.0 to work more closely with your colleagues.

Aaron Aiken called me, and we talked about the Google Voice experience.  We talked about the experience on each side of the phone-call.  He called, and I ignored, and received his voice mail.

The important thing to remember here is, our conversation was recorded ON Google Voice, using the re

Needless to say we enjoyed the experience–it’s a typical Google experience!

We did spend a few minutes talking about our various websites.

To learn more about my son’s water polo camp, or to have him design a custom branding image, go visit http://fathersonchats.com

Aaron has a couple of websites worth visiting.  Check out his personal site.  He and his wife have a good site going, and worth checking out, especially helping out with financial issues!

Finally, Aaron is beginning a new business of his own, so go check http://trimtabcreative.com

I have been a user of Grand Central for about a year now, and have loved it. It lets me give out one number, and route calls to any, or all, or my phones simultaneously.  When I answer one phone, it connects the call to that number.

It provided not only a voicemail system, but an opportunity to record a call, and even download the voicemail or recording for later use (even as podcasts!)   Oh, and just like a regular answering machine in your house, there is an option to screen the call, listen as it records the voicemail, and jump in if it is “critical.”

Well, Google bought them (a while ago) and just today announced they are remaking it as “Google Voice.”

I have just converted to the new account, and Aaron over on Twitter (@aaronaiken) politely tested it with me.  He called, and I let it go to voice mail.  You can listen to the actual audio file below.

I watched as it first delivered the mail to the webpage inbox, and was immediately available to listen to, and download.

Then, after 2 minutes, provided the coolest new feature:

VOICEMAIL CONVERTED TO TEXT.

Yup, you read that right.  His voicemail was converted to text.  The darker the text in the display, the more confident the automated conversion system was of the words.  Here is a graphic of the actual voicemail.

As you can see it was pretty confident.  And honestly, it should be.  It got most of the grey words correct as well.  I am sure “your mileage may vary” but it was quite good!  Perhaps most interesting, it deleted out all the “verbal pauses.”

Within another minute I was not only notified by text message on my iPhone that I had a voicemail, but they delivered the text of that voicemail as well!

I hope to be testing out other features later today–so be on the lookout for a podcast, recorded using Google Voice, and the new “conference Call” feature!

One more thing:  If you haven’t yet, please consider helping my son get to water polo camp.  Even a simple one, or two, dollar donation would be great!