Stu Downes

This videocast is a nice introduction to Google Documents, Spreadsheets and Calendar but biased at how families may use their online tools.

The bbc have recently added to their wide use of RSS by including social bookmarking and networking tool links on each article.  Excellent!!

Thanks to Steve who used jing I have resolved this issue.  It all came down to the setting not being where I expected it to be.  I’d have expected all the settings to be available via the vista control panel.  In this case the enable auto-rotate is only available through the ThinkPad Tablet Shortcut menu then clicking on the Settings button (which appears to be greyed out but is active!).  So thanks Steve and hopefully someone else will find this useful.

Steve commented on my recent post on my experience with the BlackBerry 8800 asking about my podcast experience.  At that time I didn’t have a micro SD card.  Now all installed here is my experience.

You’ll have to enable Mass Storage Support for the card [Tools > Advanced Options > Media Card > Mass Storage Support > On].  This allows the card to act as a USB storage device.  You can then transfer media to the device using the Roxio software which comes with the Desktop Manager application.  I would recommend this approach as it optimises the audio files for the BlackBerry media players.

To get my podcasts in the first place I use my Newsgator online account, save any podcasts I want to listen to in the MyPodcasts folder (under clippings).  Then I use Feedstation to download the files and Roxio to transfer them to the Blackberry.  Its a bit cumbersome but not too bad.  You can save files directly to the device from Feedstation, but I haven’t utilised that feature yet.  Newsgator online accounts and Feedstation are both free.

One Gotcha: when loading media onto the BlackBerry it must be USB connected to the PC.  One thing I didn’t realise is the device won’t let you see the media you’ve loaded until the USB is disconnected.  That threw me for few minutes!

When listening the device is good.  You can play all content or content in a folder or individual files.  You can play through the headset and pause by pressing the answer button on the headset (either when answering a call or wanting to just pause the podcast).  This also works when the device has locked after the timeout period.  When listening on speakers the mute button at the top of the device provides the same functionality as does answering or making a telephone call.

How have I not worked with a tablet before!  I got mine last week and here is a brief introduction to what I had to do and some of my tips, tricks, issues, work habits.

Getting Started : blatted the Lenovo XP build in favour of our corporate Vista build.  Tablet then became a laptop!  Downloaded all the software via Thinkpad update including a scary bios update.  Tablet now back to working order!  Added the tablet to the Ultrabase.

Issues: The only thing I haven’t got working is the auto-rotate feature which was working with the XP install but hasn’t worked since installing vista.  I am using the active disk protect … I’ll update if I do get it working.  I just don’t see the option anywhere to enable the auto-rotate (this keeps the screen the right way up when working in tablet mode).

Work habits:  My work habits have now within a week changed dramatically.  I use OneNote for all my handwritten notes.  I review more documents now using the pen (especially good for diagrams and slides).

I still have a desktop configuration with a standard keyboard, mouse and the tablet screen in laptop mode when working.  When in meetings I use my desk monitor for the web meeting presentation, flip the thinkpad screen into tablet mode and drag it (and the ultrabase) across the desk towards me.  You’ll need to ensure you have free cable as the 2 work modes are completely ergonomically different.

For meetings where I am presenting then I need to know what I’m doing before the meeting starts.  Do I need to use “pen and ink” for others to see?  If so the tablet is my primary screen, but then note taking has to be back to paper.  If I don’t need to scribble and I’m presenting from slides or application sharing then I make sure my desk monitor is the primary monitor and the tablet the secondary monitor.  This is simply because most conferencing tools don’t recognise the extended screen layout (a real annoyance for me).

Summary:  All in all I’d now absolutely recommend a tablet.  I can cope with the smaller screen size without issue.  A recommended machine for those thinking of purchasing one, although you’d probably want the X61.

Steve also has an excellent review of his X60 ( Permanent Link )

Am I the only live writer user who suffers this pain?  Every image I insert gets tagged with atomicselection=”true” between “<a” and “href=”, real pain as it breaks the RSS feed validity and feedburner gets in a knot.

I’ve been meaning to try Collanos for a while and got the opportunity to do so when my wife needed to share some files with a friend.  Observations….

Its slow to start on my machine (but this is not a major issue).  The functionality is good with the ability to add files, post-its, tasks, URL’s, and persistent chats to a workspace.  These are then transferred peer to peer to participants of the workspace, that traffic being encrypted using a 256 bit AES algorythm.

The interface is intuitive, clear and simple.  The invitation mechanisms are simple (although do need the other person to have a pre-existing account).  Account registration is quick and simple.  File transfer was quick and made efficient use of available bandwidth.  

Cross platform support wins over some alternative peer to peer technologies (Collanos plays with Windows, Mac and Linux).  Cost is zero and the business model appears to be wait for a richer feature version of the software and then pay for that if you need those features.  And the new features I’d like to see would be:

• Folder share at an OS level.  Groove allows this and that is superb, avoiding the need to upload files to the workspace.
• Some form of optional relaying service to cache encrypted data on a server ready for participants to log on (again stealing from the Groove model).
• Better discussion support.
• Better support for rich text (i.e. ability to paste images to allow annotation between workspace members).
• A calendar (possibly linked to google).

Running on Vista

Lots of people make reference to problems on Vista.  I have had no problems by taking the following approach.  When installing I installed using the admin account.  However I ensured that the workplace folder in a location that the account which would run Collanos had no issues accessing.

Technorati tags: Collanos, Vista, Workspace, Peer to Peer, P2P

After almost a month of using my corporate BlackBerry 8800 now some thoughts.  After a couple of weeks instant messaging was enabled on the device.  So what do I find useful and why?

Email

Great for checking things before meetings, when travelling or generally at times the laptop isn’t connected or available.  Nothing earth shattering there.

Calendar

Now for me this is superb … I’ve got lots in my head.  Work, home, kids, bottles, nappies, voluntary work, blogs, rss … oh and the calendar always seems to be stored in that grey area of the brain where memory isn’t that great.  For me the ability without booting a laptop up to check what I have on this morning or this afternoon is superb.  Can I attend that meeting next Thursday afternoon, do I need to make sure the kids are in nursery as the doors open to make an early call?  Really, really useful for me.

Contacts

No more useful than on my old telephone.

Instant Messaging

For instant messaging it isn’t my tool of choice.  Hey I’m either available to chat to you at my laptop or I’m away and hence can’t.  What I am a fan of is do-not-disturb.  We use Sametime which doesn’t allow any notes to be stored against your presence icon, so when offline thats it, no information.  There are times for example when I’m driving from A-to-B and want to display my presence information.  Can’t do it with the laptop as its powered down with no network.  The BlackBerry is superb in these situations.  The power of “hey I can’t talk to you now but expect me back online in 2 hours” is superb.

Telephone

Hmmm….bottom of the list.  The telephony experience is good, the voice commands to dial people really get tied up with my northern accent   But on the whole the phone part of the device is the least used feature (bet I’m not alone there!).