The R&D deptartment over at Redmond revealed an interesting new device today, that oddly enough makes it device number 2 (here is Number 1 in case you haven't heard) that Apple has been "expected" to reveal but currently hasn't. Microsoft's spin on the mouse is to still keep the same traditional curved surface for your palm, but come the middle of the device go to a clear piece of curved glass. The rear of the device that holds the electronics, is going to be holding a camera to track what fingers actually get placed on the device. Hrmm, this camera technology seems to be a hot new thing for Microsoft, if history serves correct they currently have another really hot item to debut soon all based around a camera. But what does this say about the company, the company that far too many accuse of being sluggish, engineering, business, and not consumer oriented say? The Times They Are a Changing.
I can only hope Microsoft can live up to its own hype, as they have generated an insane amount of it with devices like Natal and Courier. Let's hope Microsoft can deliver all as promised, with minimal problems. Word on the street about Natal though, it appears that the so far few and rare cases in which Natal has to be calibrated is as simple as covering the camera with your hand for three seconds and then uncovering it. Brilliant. Obviously it'd be even cooler if you never had to do this, but I can handle such a short and painless calibration.
This mouse however is something that has been due out for sometime now, and finally coming to fruition. "Others imitate, Apple innovates," Steve Jobs once said. He failed to mention that their seem to be a few who imitate, and sometimes make better and far superior devices than the almighty fruit. Again, I can only hope this is the case. Check out the video.
This is a post I've put off for way to long, but collaborative technology is on the move. And with the "wave" of support for Google Wave, I thought it time to mention a product that I don't know how I lived without for the longest time. It is the centerpeice of my day to day life, it allows real-time collaboration, syncs my documents across any number of devices and any number of people.
Microsoft Live Mesh had one mission goal when it started, beat Apple MobileMe to the market. It did. But like every Microsoft technology that usually rocks my face off, it is NEVER advertised. Not even close to properly. It's embarrassing. They have some really slick tools and as a result all the money must go there...because it sure as hell doesn't go to marketing. But then again there is this video that I wasn't even close to aware of until about 6 months into the limited tech preview. It's a great commercial, it's pretty, it's dare I say - Apple quality. Too bad my perception is incredibly askew, because when I showed this video to several people who had no knowledge of the product/not really into tech at all their responses were quite far from accurate. Watch it for yourself, or just keep reading.
The idea that is trying to be sold in the video is that this woman takes a picture from her phone, and it instantly syncs to a man who is leaving the office for the day. It then syncs to his photo frame, then it syncs to a man in an airport on an Apple Macbook, then his Zune. Meanwhile a girl in a car is receiving the man's Zune playlist her on Microsoft Sync device and Windows Mobile phone. Seconds later kids behind an Xbox are sharing their latest Halo video with friends. The point is that Mesh allows instant synchronization of files across any number of devices, any number of people, regardless of platform.
"This is what technology should be, things should be this simple. PC, Mac, Xbox, Zune, you shouldn't be limited. You should be able to get all of your stuff wherever you are on any device you are on." - Ray Ozzie, CEO of Microsoft
Ray Ozzie, the successor to Bill Gates was called "One of the top 5 programmers in the world," by Gates. He is clearly living up to that statement. Office 2010 will be his (it does live collaboration), Live Mesh is his (offers syncing of documents over any number of devices and people), Office Groove part of Office 2007 was his (this was his first move at Microsoft), Windows Azure the new server OS of Windows, and it offers cloud services that anyone can build/deploy. If Bill Gates is associated with the personal computer, Ray Ozzie would be associated to the cloud.
Now I am about to make a claim, that seems to come as a shock/certain level of gravitas when I tell people. Live Mesh is hands down, the absolute centerpiece of my tech life since I started using it. Almost everything I do now, hinges on this technology. This product became the starting piece of my personal tech ecosystem. I currently have Mesh installed on my primary desktop (iMac - I only use the Vista side though, but its installed on the Mac side), my Windows Server, my laptop, and my phone.
We're just going to overlook the names of my devices, as there is actually a naming convention behind what I've done - but it's pretty darn nerdy, like to the degree I think I got problems. Maybe I'll share it someday, but not right now.
I installed Mesh on the Windows and MacOS side of the same computer - Ninth. It's also appropriatley labeled so i know the difference, but the icon is also a giveaway. It's also installed on my phone "Samsung Epix," my laptop "Second," and finally my Windows server. As a result of having this software installed on every computer I use (rather than just access it via the web) I can now remote control my devices from internet connected device. Yeah, remote control. I can go to a computer lab, and sign into my local desktop over the internet. But sure remote control, it's been done for years. Who cares Adam? Here's the selling point, copy and paste works between machines. I can drag files between my local desktop and my remote desktop via Internet Explorer and they are instantly copied/moved. Not only that, its ridiculously fast. Something that isn't well known is that part of the Mesh installer, installs a video driver. As a result, when you are remote controlling a machine you can hide the desktop on the device or continue showing it - great if you have roommates or others around and you don't want them watching what you are doing on that remote machine. Furthermore, the video driver hacks up Windows a bit if you are are using more than single monitor - it knows how to consolidate the desktop into a single screen for you. It also removes the background on the remote desktop to save on graphics processing and turns it solid white. It's fast. You won't believe how quick your machine responds.
So just why exactly does my life now hinge on this tech? Instant file sharing across devices, its like an automated backup policy for my life. Mesh also creates "Mesh Folders," folders that turn neon blue in Windows to suggest they are Mesh folders and they are syncing with other devices. When I create a Mesh folder on one device (or the cloud - Live Desktop) all of my machines with the Mesh client installed instantly receive a dialog box asking "Would you like to sync this folder to your desktop?" So lets go with this, and assume I choose to sync on that device. Now i have a shared folder that syncs with the cloud (Live Desktop) and my other devices. The moment I place a file in that folder from any device, my client tells the cloud "I have new stuff!" it pushes its changes to the cloud, and the cloud pushes those changes down to devices that don't have the new information. I have a folder called "Senior Year" which contains a lot of my lab work/papers for school. I'll go to a computer lab, type a paper, go to mesh.com, upload the file to the "Senior Year" folder and then all my devices that are syncing that folder instantly have that paper.
When I installed Mesh on my Epix (Windows Mobile 6.1 required) it instantly says "Your first mesh folder was created on this device, it is the My Picture folder." In about 20 seconds it occured to me what was now possible. If the default save for my camera is my "My Picture" and "My Pictures" is now a Live Mesh folder, that syncs with the cloud...that means every time I snap a picture its pushed up to the cloud. If I sync with my desktop..."HOLY CRAP!" is exactly what I screamed when this all clicked with me.
To add insult to injury, the wow factor went up again when I noticed I could "Invite People to this Folder." That means I could snap pictures, my devices AND other people get them!? What?! BRILLIANT! Oh yeah - did I mention Live Mesh is completely free to use? PC's running XP, Vista, Seven, Server (Server is an unofficial, but still installs), MacOS, Windows Mobile Phones and soon Xbox360 and Zune. Don't overlook the MacOS support here folks, Microsoft runs this game because they offer support to competitors. Free support. Free tools. How do you get to to the top? By not discriminating and having open tools. Clearly Mesh has become the glue that can hold all devices together and I am a huge fan. My Mac friends are actually incredibly reluctant to admit that this is a piece of Microsoft tech they themselves can't believe they are in love with. Their biggest comlpaint is no iPhone support - but last time I checked iPhone doesn't have a file structure/means to navigate a file structure. Kinda renders the tech a bit useless/unavailable. I told them to take it up with Apple...
Hopefully after all of this, you can see how incredibly useful this tech is. If you are shocked that it isn't advertised, you are not alone. This technology is 100% free to use. Hence I am not really impressed with the costly MobileMe or Google's new tech called Wave. If I want to sync my bookmarks across devices - I just turn the folder that holds my bookmarks into a Mesh folder and sync it to the location of other bookmark folders on other devices. I'm always up to date! Live Mesh is part of the Live suite of services, like Zune Live, Xbox Live, see a running theme here? Don't be surprised when Mesh becomes the centerpiece of Microsoft technologies - like Courier, after all they did say you could share with yourself and other people...
Well after my first post on the Google Sync service I said I would post an introduction to myself. Some would say who cares.... but hey, I have the ability to do this and I am going to use it. I warn everyone now, this is more than boring! Plus, as I've been chatting with the other writers we thought this is probably a very arrogant/toolish series of posts. So we went with Tool Time, then again I'm about to share with you all the toys that I use to survive the day, so its one of those double entendre deals.
My name is L.J. Filetti and I am a Chicago boy, southwest suburbs to be exact. I currently live in the northwest suburbs but still love the city. I consider myself a "Technology Professional"... meaning I focus my career and studies on the enterprise infrastructure (basically the desktops, servers, data-center, and everything in between). I am a huge supporter of Web 2.0 and using it to promote a business, sales and marketing, as well as recruiting. Actually I am currently building the brand and image for my family's management consulting firm, 716 Group, Inc (stay tuned for a website). In my free time I am a nerd.... nothing like Adam but almost.
Adam and I have been talking about doing a blog that talks about what we use to get through the day. From computer, to phone, to software, to....... I will begin by saying I am a windows guy... That's where most of my expertise is and that's what I currently use. But I am a huge supporter of Linux and Apple and plan to have a nice Mac on my desk by the end of the year! How bout I just list off what I use and we can go from there.
Dell Inspiron E1405 running Windows Vista Business Home grown desktop, Asus Motherboard, AMD Chip running Windows Vista Ultimate Apple iPhone 3GS Xbox 360
When it comes to personal computers.... let me rephrase that.... when it comes to Windows based personal computers I only recommend Dell, Dell, Dell! In a server environment I am not so locked on dell but for laptops and desktops it's Dell all the way. I know they may break a lot but they have the best support and in my mind the best products. No I will not go out and buy an HP or Sony Vaio, I will only buy dell. If you want to spend the extra money then buy an Apple, you can always run Windows in Parallel or as Option 2 on your boot menu. I plan on doing this very soon! Last but not least, my iPhone 3GS..... In my opinion it is hands down the best phone ever! I could not survive with any other phone. If needed, I would be ok with a blackberry, BUT ONLY IF NEEDED! If you think you have a better phone for me, let me hear about it. I can be sold on anything...
As for software I am all over the board. Here is a current list.
Microsoft Office 2007 including Outlook for e-mail. Trillian Astra Firefox ImgBurn Textpad Moffsoft Free Calc TeraCopy Revo Uninstaller uTorrent BS.Player iTunes jzip Adobe CS FoxIt PDF Adaware Avast! antivirus CCleaner SpyBot Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware Putty Xobni VMware server, Infrastructure Client
I think that list is just about good enough to put anyone to sleep. Most of those tools are free. I am not against Google Chrome as oppose to Firefox, I just like a little thicker browser that can do a little more. I use to use Digsby but was sold on Trillian as soon as it was pitched to me. The only reason I use Outlook is because it is the only client that does calendaring and e-mailing together. Postbox or Thunderbird are great clients but don't handle calendars and exchange the way I want them to. That is basically all I have to say about that. Any questions, feel free to e-mail me.
When it comes to a business environment I am a little different but not too far different. I plan on having my CCNA, VMware Certified Professional, and Microsoft Certifications within the next year; maybe Juniper certs too... I am not really sure what else I can say.... That is all....
Ok, so we got this new toy today. It's called Google Wave. Maybe you heard of it.
To say the least, I'm still trying to figure out what is so cool about this thing but it's r
eally hard when you don't have friends on it. Then again, if you were lucky enough to respond on my facebook/twitter or the DorkCorp twitter you won an invitation to Wave. But, I also have no idea when those are going out so I'm on my own here. So let's chat about what I can make use of as one user...lame...what? Anyway.
"I'm here to enlist your help in trying out a new tool for real time communication and collaboration called Google Wave!" says Greg or "Dr. Wave" as he is known in Australia. Then again, he is product manager for Google Wave down there, so I'm just going to let him get away calling himself whatever he wants.
The picture at the top of this post is the first thing you see upon entering Wave, and I wasted no time watching another timeless Google product video. As explained in the above quote by Dr. Wave, Google Wave is a means of online, real-time collaboration. IM/Email kind of environment coupled with lots of linking, file uploads, sharing, and Google Gadgets. It's almost like a private forum between whoever you want. Would you allow me another analogy?
When you send an email with lets say an assignment to a few people, everyone gets a copy. The problem is should all these people make changes, the document is now out of sync. Google Wave is a hosted meeting space. You can see what people type AS they type it. Anyone can edit any part of the wave you invite...
The expression became "Google it," and now I'm sure this product is going to birth "Ride the Wave." Which is entirely possible given the following...
The above is an example of "riding the wave," in that there is a little timeline at the top of the page allowing you to make this thing a Tivo. Play, pause, rewind, fast forward all the events that happened since the wave began. Won't lie, that's pretty neat. It's not textual updates on who changed what (Microsoft Live Mesh) this is changes in the form of video...awesome! What gets cooler about this is the level of integration it offers to other parts of the web like Blogger and Twitter. These are gadgets you can add into a wave and...well just look.
It's what Google/Wave is calling a "robot" that either grabs stuff for you from Twitter (like a popular search or something) and updates your/that Wave accordingly. Better put, you subscribe to 400 people on Twitter, there are really only 3 you care about. This bot can grabs their news. But the coolest bot by far, leverages off of Google's translation service offering real-time, instant translation services. Trillian Astra offers this same functionality for IM-ing, but that is all I shall digress on that tangent.
All in all, this is a pretty nifty service. I don't know how much I'll be using it given that Trillian manages all my social networks (facebook, twitter, aim, etc) and that Live Mesh syncs all my own files across all of my own stuff WITH friends if I choose to share with them. But we'll see, Google as always is continually ramping up the quality of software they choose to give out for free. But I'll be honest, nothing has thrown me over the edge here. Nothing is wowing me, don't get me wrong I'm impressed - it does some cool stuff. But I'm not flipping out over it in the same fashion did when people first saw an iPhone. I feel as though services like Google Wave exist in equally free forms. The only thing that is really standing out to me is ability to "ride the wave" and see video changes made to the wave. That is incredibly awesome. But, that, uhh about it as far as shock and awe value go? If I find something particularly mind blowing, rest assured I'll be issuing an update.
Finally, I've used all of my invitations. No point in asking for one. For those of you who who managed to win an invite allow me to share the following directly from Google.
"Invite others to Google Wave
Google Wave is more fun when you have others to wave with, so please nominate people you would like to add. Keep in mind that this is a preview so it could be a bit rocky at times.
Invitations will not be sent immediatley. We have a lot of stamps to lick.
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