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.

The long-awaited google app has hit the Apple iTunes App Store (download again even if it shows the “old” version and sync).

I did it and it is there in all it’s glorious voice recognition splendor… I played a little. Using my 1st Gen iPhone with the system it works AWESOME!

Put the phone to your head, small tone and speak. Take it away from your head and it “works”. Fills in a google search and poof! Find the weather, stock price, movie times, Chinese restaurants…

I found in the tests I just did 90% speech accuracy and quick and great search results (plus well formatted for the iPhone). Open iTunes and get your download on!

After a long time and a lot of wonder as what would happen to yahoo!, it was announced that Jerry Yang (Yahoo’s founder and CEO) will be stepping down. (Info from the NYTimes too)

The company was talking about being bought by Microsoft and no one really wanted that, but that was when the stock was ~$40/share. Yahoo closed at under $11 today.

The kick in the pants was the ~$30 was too low for Yang and they passed… Granted the market is in a mess right now, but it will be amazing to see what happens to the stock on Tuesday…

right now is exactly why i question the benefit of putting your data in “the cloud”.  working on scheduling something with a friend for the week by my google calendar is not responding…  urg.

anyone else having these issues.  i’ve also pulled the google into iCal (which works very well - when the calendar “can be found”).  i love google, i love their tools (i’m waiting impatiently for the iPhone update like many others) but dead in the water right now.  anyone have any ideas?

google will take over the world…

a number of years ago, google introduced gmail. huge storage, no cost. then they rolled in gchat. works well, integrated via the web into gmail - it’s there so why not use it…

yesterday, google rolled video and audio chat right into google. a co-worker chatted with me this morning from his mac to my pc.

the image size was kept small - i did not have a video camera on my machine - but it ran smoothly, audio was good and would be a very easy step from google chat to google video (without leaving the browser).

i am planning on trying it with others - but for right now, hopping into ichat is an option, skype, and aim are always around (thought download required) - why not just use the web interface many of us are already staring at…

Over the years (and children) we have gone through the image capture gamut.  When our first was born we got a MiniDV Sony Camcorder.  We took video of the birth and some for the next few months.  Then the still camera we had (I believe it was a Canon at the time) had video features so we would snap quick moments of video on that.

Now with the current iterations of point-and-shoot cameras, video quality is excellent, length is almost limitless for the usual shots (singing happy birthday) and we rarely shoot video of either of the kids…  The younger got the shaft

Now Flip Mino has released a small (credit card-sized 3.30z HD camcorder that records up to 60 minutes of video) and cheap HD video recorder ($230).  2 hours of use/charge (via a USB port/arm) and an amazing product.  The standard flip mino was a hit among the college-aged crowd since they could capture their adventures day in and day out, post on youtube.com

Over the last few months my wife has started a new venture - professional photography using an AMAZING Canon DSLR but with the size and use that camera is a process.  I’m really tempted…  For the cost and convenience you could carry around 2 small devices (until canon or someone comes up with a point-and-shoot that will provide a similar solution).

For the time being, looking for a simple, inexpensive camcorder, check out the Flip.

wordpress.org is working on the next version of wordpress (2.7). 2.6.3 is the current version but after some playing i installed 2.7 on my server to see what the changes are.

from a practical view, 2.7 changes the way the admin sees wordpress (which i really like). the admin interface is clean, much more web2.0 and easy to navigate. i have not tried themes or plugins, but the system itself seems really clean, easy to integrate and when 2.7 appears for the masses- if wordpress holds true the update/upgrade will be easy.

in my test i installed 2.6.2 from godaddy. i then removed the entire wordpress folder and files (leaving the database) and copied over the 2.7b2 files. i changed the config file to match the file that was originally created when godaddy generated the database and uploaded that.

opened the 2.7 index page, the system told me to update the database (which i did and with one post took 15 seconds) and off i went. Logged into the admin and all was right with the world.

if all holds true, the system will show an update to 2.7 “soon”, i will upgrade to the version, update the database and off i will go! anyone else trying 2.7, let us know!

Tomorrow- get out there and vote! Make you “voice” heard. That is all…

i have been thinking of ways to deepen my connection with my clients and make the “business” seem more available. I considered blackberry and another phone number but the costs (even the verizon family plan) runs about $40-50/month.

i stared looking for other options and came across skype (again). for $8 (3 month) you get unlimited outbound nationwide calling. for another $12 (3 months) you get an inbound number (so people can call me). all for about $7/month.

this can be made a little cheaper by doing a year agreement. i’m giving it a go for 3 months and see if i use it and if it works well.

one other area i’m a bit worried about is having the tie in to the computer. i’m looking for a headphone/mic combo for a reasonable price. it seems like logitech has some solutions. if i continue the contract through the year i may consider a skype wifi phone, but not quite yet…

experiences, thoughts, let us know…

Apple has put together a great app store for the iPhone and iTouch. Many free or low-cost tools, games and random items (e.g. lighters) that have deepened the iPhone and iTouch solution.

Recently, there was some talk of Apple using the app store as a method of limiting items that may compete with the systems they have in place. The most recent example is Opera mini for the iPhone. Opera make a really nice browser - personally I have never gotten too into it, but it is an option to Safari. If mozilla were to release something for the iPhone I think I would download it in a heartbeat.

This is where it gets interesting. It seems like Opera is an option to Safari and Apple is not “encouraging” the competition - but limiting it. Hopefully Apple begins to see that not only would some of these Apps expand the user base, they could encourage their own applications to excel.

Thoughts, let us know.