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!

Apple released an update for the buttonless trackpad on the macbook and macbook pro tonight. Following the update, the system reboots and installs a firmware update on the machine to update the software - during the update the trackpad is unresponsive (normal).

So far the trackpad is running well on my machine (other reports?) and seems to be a bit more sensitive. Hopefully Apple will continue to take this great technology and improve upon it.

Have a new macbook or macbook pro - start software update (no download link yet) and update your machine.

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?

I have been using Parallels for about 2 years now.  I do not use it a lot, but when I do use it - it is easy to work with, quick and powerful.  Today (Tuesday), Parallels announced an upgrade from version 3 to version 4.  The new version is cleaner, more feature rich and for $40 (the upgrade price) you can download and activate the new version.

Following the upgrade, the system will look for version 3, update the system and convert any existing parallels install to version 4 files.  Parallels claims a 50% speed increase (I noticed Ubuntu 8.10 loaded and ran a lot faster and smoother) and I really like the ability to pop into an OS, work and then suspend or even shut down quickly.

If you require the need to run something other than the Mac OS from time to time, Parallels is a great solution.  VMWare also has a solution (Fusion) that does all of the same things (with some additional strengths/weaknesses) but personally come back to Parallels as my option.  Thoughts - let us know…

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!

After a few days of using my MacBook (most recently with the additional 4GB of ram) and I continue to be excited about performance, quality and general excitement that this is my machine…

One item I was most surprised by was how they changed the memory installation. For the last couple of years the memory install has been one of the easiest things to do. With the new MacBook and Pro, the hard drive is very easy to access but the memory requires some work.

8 very small screws need to be removed but once that is done the memory is easy to install and seat. Getting all the screws back in place and installed was fine and the system has been a bit peppier. All said a good investment.

Questions about installing extra memory, let me know.

with the new macbook in my hands i have been looking at how i can streamline things further. one item i have used in the past is busysync. i was very happy with it, then a few months following purchase, google popped a how to online to do the same thing right through iCal.

i read through it and set iCal up with it. the best part of this (vs. subscribing to the calendar) is that changes that are made in iCal are synced back to google.

so far, what i have seen has worked well. i would like to set the preference to group all google calendars together in iCal but that is not a big deal. so far, it appears to be working just fine - thank you…

questions, let us know.

Apple’s newest MacBook is a fine piece of work. I bit the bullet and bought one of my own. It has been something I have been waiting for since the summer.

I started with the 2.0ghz version but thought more about it, wanted the extra boost with the 2.4ghz, the backlit keyboard and the larger drive.

I ordered 4gb of RAM (should be in my hands in the coming day or two) and I’m typing on it right now! The backlit keyboard is very nice. The keyboard in general is a real nice feel. I keep thinking about putting in a larger drive (320gb-500gb), but I’m going to hold on that, the 250gb should be just fine for a while.

I’m interested to see how the extra memory effects the system and I’m downloading something from TiVo (will see if the conversion to the iPhone is a bit quicker too).

More to come as I work with this for a while. Questions, let me 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…