Thoughts On Adobe Media Player

I downloaded Adobe Media Player yesterday and although I didn't get a chance to fully check it out I do have to say I'm pretty impressed. Overall the UI is pretty pleasing (though the fade effects are a bit choppy on my machine). There doesn't seem to be a ton of content just yet, but I'm sure that will come in time. I'm intrigued by the 'offline' viewing capabilities. That should definitely come in handy when travelling.

I have to admit, I'm pretty excited about these on demand internet movie/tv technologies that are coming out lately. hulu is another one that is pretty cool. I even went out and picked up an extra long HDMI cable which I hook up to my XPS laptop so I can watch on my HDTV. The quality is not quite 100%, but just the fact that I can watch programs and movies when I want to on my regular TV with very limited commercial interruption is very cool.

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Improving Performance On Vista

Just saw an interesting Vista tidbit in an article at infoworld, though I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing. I mean, on one hand, increased performance is always a good thing. But on the other hand, one would think the 4GB of onboard RAM and a 7200RPM hard drive would be enough...

Get flashy: If you have an extra USB flash drive that you don't use for much else, Vista can cache disk reads on it, thereby boosting performance beyond what you'd get from your hard disk alone. Simply insert your flash drive into a USB 2.0 slot. If the drive is fast enough, a prompt will appear, asking whether you want to open the folder for the drive or use it to "Speed up my system using Windows ReadyBoost." Choose the latter option, and follow the remaining prompts. When you're calculating how much space to set aside for ReadyBoost to use, Microsoft recommends that you let ReadyBoost use one to three times the amount of RAM on your system.

Play your cards right: USB thumb drives aren't the only way to boost system performance -- fortunately, as USB memory sticks protruding from a computer (particularly a laptop) are easy to dislodge, and they can be a pain to remove and stow for traveling. If your PC has a reader for SD (Secure Digital) or CompactFlash cards, you can use those media in place of a USB stick to handle your ReadyBoost needs.

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Cross Your Fingers...Installing Vista SP1

So I've just clicked 'Install' on Vista SP1 on my desktop. I've been told to step away from the machine for an hour while it 'does it's thing'. Good thing I've got my laptop here with me. Amazingly (or not so much) Microsoft has made it quite a quest to get the damn thing in the first place.

We shall see. Here's hoping for the magic bullet...

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Movie Review: Southland Tales

About 6 months ago a friend shared the trailer for Southland Tales with me. The trailer certainly presented a strange but intriguing looking film so I was anxious to see the movie. I kept my eyes open for the movie, but it apparently was only released in a limited capacity in theaters (usually a bad sign) so I had to wait until it came out on DVD which happened yesterday.

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Corporate Cultures And Our Ability To Influence Change

In June of this year I will have been working at the same company for 12 years. Working for the same company that long these days is almost unheard of but I consider myself fortunate to be 31 years old and almost half way to being pension eligible (yes those things do still exist). Barring any unforseen circumstances, I'll probably be at this company my entire career. But that's a discussion for another day.

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Wii In The House

I arrived at my local Toys-R-Us with 2 mugs of coffee and the Sunday paper at just after 5:00AM thinking I'd sip some coffee and read the paper for a few hours until they opened at 8:00AM. Little did I know there would be 19 other crazies already standing in line. Luckily after a near 3 hour wait in the freezing rain I got my Wii! I've just played a little bit but I am very impressed with it so far. The controls definitely take a little getting used to but they seem cool. I'll try to follow up with a post in a week or two after I've really had a chance to get used to them more.

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What Does Your Desk Say About You?

I typically hate these types of emails, but this one is cool. What kind of desk personality are you? I am definitely "The Organized Chaos Desk".

The Super-Organized Desk

This functional workplace is very neat with no frills or personal clutter. Likely to be a super-efficient secretary or assistant, only the essentials are prominent: a pen, notebook and stapler. They want to feel needed and can be very charming when they feel others are relying on them. This desk personality can be subject to mood swings and may disguise a chip on its owner's shoulder from lack of appreciation.

The Organized Chaos Desk

This personality has piles of paper, overflowing onto the floor and window seat. The owner will claim to have a "filing-system" where they can easily find what they are looking for. There may be multiple sticky notes wallpapering the room with reminders and to-do items. To cope with the pressures and stress, this person frequently gets up to warm up their coffee or have a cigarette break. While likely to be a workaholic, they are fun to chat with and are flexible and brilliant for brainstorming.

The Creative Chaos Desk

This desk is filled with an interesting array of clutter revealing a creative and agile mind. Not focused on technology, this owner is a great source of ideas. They are always on the go and only vaguely know where everything is that they are working on. They may misplace projects or papers. Easily distracted, this person tends to be a lateral thinker.

The Personality Extension Desk

Covered with dozens of personal touches, this desk displays poster, photos, holiday cards and zany mouse-mats. The owner may even keep personal items such as vitamin pills, hand cream or perfume easily accessible. This personality is very energetic, and keeps food, drink and other items readily available for quick nourishment. They are friendly and talkative but may not be discreet with confidential information.

The Show Desk

This desk has been carefully scripted to present an image of the importance of its occupant. It is very large with few items visible and no personal memorabilia. Giving the impression of space and control, this individual is likely to have a double-sided personality. Although friendly in a social group, they become coldly professional once behind the desk. Few people at work will ever know the real person behind the façade.

The Trophy Desk

This workspace is messy and covered with items that reflect its owner's social, professional or financial success. These "trophies" may include awards, plaques, pictures of expensive holidays, or sporting equipment. While the look may appear random, each item is strategically placed for maximum effect and visibility. Desktop accessories will be bold and brightly colored. These people tend to think big and are natural leaders, but need to be appreciated or they may sulk or have a tantrum. No matter what your desk style is, it is important to be aware that it sends a message to others that could be a factor in your success. Remember people will judge you by what you show them.

Read more here.

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Alienating Your Customers

I'm in the middle of helping a friend track down their cable companies tech support number (it has been an endless loop of phone transfers and wrong departments for her). Anyway - I decided to go online and try out the online tech support chat to help point her in the right direction and got the following lovely message when trying to enter the online tech support area:

The Minimum requirements to use the Technical Chat services are: * Windows 98 or higher, with Internet Explorer 5.5+ or Netscape 6.0+ * Macintosh OS 10 or higher, with IE 5.0+, Netscape 6.0+ or Safari 1.0+

So I'm now back to IE to try this out since apparently this very large cable provider can't design a chat system to work in all browsers.

Yet another reason to go with AT&T DSL.

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A Breath Of Fresh Air Courtesy Of King James

It's certainly refreshing and rare these days to see a superstar athlete giving back to the community and being a positive influence to children. That's one of the reasons I'm such a big fan of LeBron James. If you haven't had a chance yet you should check out http://lebron.msn.com. It's an interactive site (done in Flash) that challenges youth to be involved with their community, family, school, etc and stay positive. Be sure to check the videos for a glimpse of his hometown Akron, OH and some of the activities that he sponsors and gives his time to. Keep up the awesome work and good attitude LeBron! You make northern Ohio proud!

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OT: Pointless Friday Observation

Here's one for you to ponder (and if you're reading this you are as ready for the weekend as I am). I started using CFEclipse a few months ago as my full time coding environment. So far I'm pretty much in love with it. It takes a little getting used to, but since Mark Drew and crew (The Drew Crew?) do such a fantastic job I'm finding it easier to get comfortable with. So one of the things that truly sets it apart from your average text editor is the integrated browser. How freaking cool is that? The only thing that would make it better would be integrated Firefox, but hey we can't have everything! ;) Speaking of that integrated browser, here's my pointless observation. 90% of the time when I'm checking out my wonderful work in the integrated browser I find myself mousing back down to the taskbar to switch back to my editor when I'm ready to make some more changes. I can't help it - it's just habit!! I'm sure I'll break it in time. It's almost as bad as mousing to the upper left of the browser in IE 7 to refresh the page - every single time. I can not stand that! I mean bravo, you integrated the 'Go' and 'Refresh' buttons into one button, but 10+ years of browsing has told me that the refresh button is in the top left corner! Before someone brings it up, yes I know F5 will refresh - its just one of the keyboard shortcuts I never got in the habit of using. OK I'm done now - but feel free to share your random Friday observations.

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