1110consulting

After quite a while, Microsoft has updated the menu system of the Xbox 360. It is a simple and quick update (which is very nice to not have to dig around too much or wait more than a couple of minutes to see the fruit of the labor).

Now, first thing most will notice is that the menu system and avatar solution seem very “wii-like”. That is fine, but a year+ to the game make me feel like they took something that worked and slapped the MS face on it.

That being said, there is Netflix HD streaming tied into the system, the menu is nice to navigate but since it has changed quite a bit it took me a while to figure out where to go to play the game I had in the drive.

Any other experiences, comments - please let us know.

a wonderful friend has been sharing his xbox 360 with me for a bit and i have been enjoying the “relaxation” of blowing away bad guys in Call of Duty…

well, i noticed through xbox live a demo of endwar (coming this “fall”). one of things i really like with games is that simulation of life and events.

endwar is a civ/sim risk-styled game. the real cool part of this is the xbox 360 allow the working with voice control. new “groups” appear from time to time (pick helicopters, infantry, or tanks to name a few) and direct them to attach, move or secure a location.

the goal, control more of the screen than the other guy! simple but real cool! the other cool part is the voice controls allow you to peek at what the groups are seeing (camera).

in the short time i have played the demo, i have been impressed with the execution, game play and voice controls. revolutionary…

A few weeks ago Dell announced a super portable and inexpensive laptop. The mini 9 is a 9″ laptop (looking and feeling more like a dvd player than a laptop) - but this little machine does a real nice job of being a great portable machine.

“Loaded” the machine runs with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage (SD memory - no hard drive). There also is no CD/DVD drive, but there is wired and wireless networking and comes with XP Home or Ubuntu.

I have been working with the XP version and so far found it slow (installing software and networking), the storage has been fine thus far and the keyboard is SMALL! I type S before I type A - Annoying. I cannot work quickly when working with this machine.

I love the idea - but so far, the MacBook Air wins out in my mind.

The Air and Mini have similar features, more storage, larger keyboard and SO MUCH faster. Granted, you are going to pay $1000-15000 more but I personally know I can get the work done I want to get done on the Air…

If you are truly looking for a light, portable workstation in the $500 - check out the Dell Mini, it just may work for you…

UPDATE (09-25-08):
keyboard small no “disk” access light so there are times i do not know if the system is doing anything or just SLOW… Urg. How hard would that have been
SLOW to wake from sleep. Here is a real small and portable machine. when i’m on the train and want to quickly fire up something - why does it take about a minute to get to a point where i can type and work?

microsoft has released a version of office (full “ultimate 2007″ version) for $59.95 for students (need a .edu email address) and actively enrolled with 0.5 course credits.

AMAZING deal! this usually costs closet to $400 retail. in conjunction with this, microsoft is providing vista ultimate for $65 and visio professional 2007 for $56…

if you are a student, a pc user, hop on over and get your copy! great deal, great price and microsoft is doing exactly what they want - get you using and comfortable with the “industry standard” you’ll be using it FOREVER…

for those office for the mac users - fire up the autoupdate (or go to Microsoft here). Microsoft has released updated for the office suites which are HIGHLY recommended!

the usual improvements in stability and performance are included, but when Microsoft includes the lines

“In addition, this update includes fixes for vulnerabilities that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer’s memory with malicious code.”

i tend to fire up the download as soon as possible.

questions or concerns, let us know.

microsoft has released sp1 for vista (which i am installing on parallels). i think tomorrow i will do something with the PC in the office… the service pack 1 download weighs in at about 450mb, BUT the install (again on parallels) is taking more than 30 minutes (stage 1 of 3).

microsoft is going to be slipping it into updates during the month of april for those that do not want to rush it…

i’ll let you know how the update goes and then runs moving forward.