Author: Kent

Reader, writer, arithmeticer. Proprietor of Newsome.Org, a tech, music and life blog.

Jesse McReynolds Does the Grateful Dead (and Very, Very Well)

I was clicking around Amazon today, working on my music migration to the beautiful new Amazon Cloud (more on that later) and I came upon a music recommendation for Jesse McReynolds’ newish record, Songs of the Grateful Dead .  I listened to a few clips, bought it, and was completely blown away.

As is my custom, I then clicked over to YouTube to see if I could find some live versions, and boy did I hit the jackpot.  Here’s some HD footage of Jesse’s appearance just last week at  Springfest 2011, in Live Oak, Florida.  This is absolutely some of the best music you will ever hear.

After you soak up this goodness, run over to Amazon, and buy this record.

Songs Of The Grateful Dead

Jesse McReynolds – Songs of the Grateful Dead.

Wow!

And if you’re a fan of good music, you have to subscribe to dschram1’s YouTube Channel.  It’s the best music channel I’ve seen on YouTube.

Snoozing Through the Xoom and iPad 2 Hype

I’m a regular of my iPad and used my Galaxy Tab a few times before concluding that it sucks.  As such, I keep an eye on the waves of new and updated tablets that crash, in varying levels of completeness, onto our shores almost daily.


I like the Galaxy Tab’s pocket-appropriate size

The two new tablets I’ve been most interested learning about are the new Motorola Xoom, because it comes with Honeycomb,  the tablet-centric version 3.0 of Google’s Android OS, and the iPad 2, because, well,  it comes from Apple.

Now that I’ve seen both, I’m a little underwhelmed.  There are things to like about both devices, but I’m not going to buy either one.  Here’s why.

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But the iPad is more elegant and has better apps.

The Xoom looks really nice, and Honeycomb is a significant improvement over the current versions of Android.  But it’s too expensive, too big (I really like the smaller size of the Galaxy Tab) and, inexplicably, it has to be sent back to the manufacturer in a few months to be updated to the new 4G network.  Maybe it would have been better to wait a little longer and release a mature product.  There’s simply no way I’m going to buy some device, put all my stuff on it, become dependent on it, and then mail it somewhere to be upgraded.

The iPad 2 has some nice new features, like a faster chip and cameras, but it only added one item from my wish list.  I view it as a minor step in the upgrade path, and expect the next version, likely to be out next year, to have more material improvements to offer.  Like a better display, wireless syncing, etc.

So for the time being, I’m going to keep on using the tablets I have and wait for a more compelling reason to upgrade.

GoodSongs: Robyn Ludwick’s Out of These Blues

Robyn Ludwick blew me away a few weeks ago, when I saw some of her concert footage  on Youtube.  To say that I dig her is a massive understatement.

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Today I received a pre-release copy of her forthcoming record, Out of These Blues, which will make the world a better place on April 19, 2011.

The short answer is that this is the first must-buy record I’ve heard this year.  My biggest gripe about most records in these digital days is the uneven quality of the songs.  You generally get a couple of great ones, some decent ones and some filler.  That’s not a problem on this record – there’s not an average song on it.  They run from excellent to very, very good.

Listen to Hollywood, and you’ll see what I mean.

“She left me for Hollywood.  Oh, don’t you know it feels so good.  In Hollywood.”  Awesome.

The title track has a timeless vibe, that would’ve been at home in the glory days of MP3.Com, when I discovered many of the alt. country bands I still listen to, or during the Gram Parsons-nurtured infancy of country rock.  The best music, of any genre, has rural roots, but a harder, darker edge- like someone who came to country music via Macon, Georgia as opposed to Nashville.  This record sounds like that.

New Orleans is a great song, with some excellent country noir lyrics.  Cajun country, Springsteen’s Rosalita, Austin style.

Steady has a bluesy organ vibe that just boils with an early Lucinda-like passion.  I’d love to hear Robyn cover Lucinda’s Side of the Road.  Actually, she can sing whatever she wants.  As long as I get a copy.

Fight Song may be the best alt. country torch song ever recorded.  I Am may be the second best one.   Can’t Go Back channels Guitar Town era Steve Earle. A fiddle led, danceable number that needs to be heard at Gruene Hall, after a day on the river.

Let’s recap.  We have alt. country, rock, blues and country torch.  I love the way this record so easily and effectively moves from country to blues to rock.  The arrangements are excellent.

This one will clearly be a contender for my 2011 record of the year.  Count the days, friends.  April 19 will be here before you know it.  Wake up early that morning and buy this record.

In the meantime, Robyn has two records you can buy at Amazon right now.  For So Long and Too Much Desire.  I bought them both, and they are also great records.

Get Out of My Yard: Why I Don’t Want Targeted Ads

I don’t want them.  I.  Don’t want.  Them.

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One of the first rules to effective communication is to never enter a debate with a group of people you respect if you know they will all vigorously disagree with you.  It’s hard to get out of the gate when you lead with your chin.

I’m fixing to break that rule.

Two of my friends, Louis Gray and Jesse Stay, are agreeing that targeted ads are not as bad as some of us think they are.  And that the binary nature of the current do-not track applications is not ideal.  Either because targeted ads are better than random ads, or because there is or might one day be a better way to control personal data.  I like and respect both of these guys and generally agree with them on technological issues.

But not this time.

While there may one day be better ways to keep people from spying on me, there aren’t now.  And since the internet at large is waging war on our privacy and our ability to protect the boundaries between the online content we seek and the content developers want to force upon us, do-not track solutions are the best cover we can find.  Sure, if I’m getting shot at, I’d prefer to take cover in a tank, but if there’s not one handy, a burned out minivan will do.

I fricking hate targeted ads (actually I hate all ads, but I have to pick my battles).  I wish that every business that thinks it needs to track my comings and goings in an effort to trick me into parting with some of my hard-earned money would go out of business this very second.  This very second.  I’d rather stare at a blank screen than think some online operator  is secretly sizing me up, waiting to sell me the snake oil de jour.

For one, it’s a complete waste of time, since I have never knowingly clicked on an online ad.  I understand that some ads have to be there, and that’s fine.  Whichever ones I can’t block with my redundant ad-blocking extensions are free to sit up there and take up some screen space.  Maybe one day I’ll accidently click on one and then accidently enter my credit card details and whatnot.  It’s pretty unlikely, but at least theoretically possible.  And the whole ad impressions as the universal business plan is pretty theoretical anyway.

Just gather eyeballs and somehow they will magically turn into cash.

Except obviously not, because now they want to spy on us to find out what they might have a better chance of suckering us into buying.

noTracking

Newsflash: I don’t need you to tell me what I want to buy.  I already know, and anything I need is a web search away.

Secondly, if I want some anonymous company to follow me around and tell me what it thinks I want, I’ll ask.  Like Amazon.  It knows what I buy there (not because of some stupid ad, but because I go there and buy things I want, and allow it to make recommendations to me).  So it makes suggestions for me.  And yes, I’ve found things I like that way- mostly books and music, which lend themselves to patterns and whatnot.  I’ve found lots of good music via Pandora, which I allow to track my musical tastes and apply it against its genome.  And Netflix, which doesn’t have any decent new DVD releases anymore, but used to make decent recommendations to me.

There is value added there, because I have decided I want music and videos and I allowed those services to see some of my online activity.

I understand there is lots of this stuff already in play.  Gmail being a prime example, I suppose.  I don’t see any ads in Gmail because I block them.  I guess they’re like stars during the day- they’re up there somewhere, but I can’t see them.

I sure as hell wouldn’t let some grocer peek in my window and then offer to sell me a root beer when I walk out the door because he saw me drinking my beloved Diet A&W’s.

But all of that is just chatter.  I don’t want targeted ads, because I don’t want them.  Period.

Go find a better business plan.  One that doesn’t coopt me as your marketing R&D department.

Another of the primary rules of communication is not to force people to consume what they know they don’t want.  If you want me to buy your merchandise, then spend your money making something really good.  If it’s good and I decide I need it, I’ll find you.

You won’t need to sneak up on me.

Google Voice Port: A Week Later

I ported my cell number to Google Voice a little over a week ago.  Since then, I’ve been on a business trip, where I relied heavily on my various mobile connections.  Here are my impressions of Google Voice, after a week as an all-in user.

The Good

The most positive development is that my non-ringing cell phone problem has been resolved.  I don’t know if it resolved itself on its own, or if my numerous calls to ATT and online SOS’s to Google were answered.  All I know is that my cell phone seems to ring, which is pretty important to the whole mobile experience.

Now, about the general Google Voice experience

Receiving calls works beautifully.  I love getting emails and text messages when I miss a call, the way I can listen to voice mails right from Gmail, and the way voice mails are transcribed.  Yes, the transcriptions of hit and miss, and occasionally hilarious, but you can almost always get the gist of the message, if not the subtleties.

The Quick Dial screen within the Google Voice iPhone app is very helpful, with your chosen list and a list of recent calls.

In sum, the inbound calling part of Google Voice is just about perfect.

The Not Quite As Good

Outbound calls are a little more kludgy.  When you make an outbound call, your cell phone first dials a Google Voice number (I seem to dial out to a 313 area code a lot), and your call, showing your Google Voice number on Caller ID, is then forwarded to the number you are calling.  There’s nothing about this that doesn’t work- it’s just a little weird.  I wish there was a way to call your Google Voice number and then get forwarded from there.

I have noticed the occasional lag when talking over Google Voice.  It’s not horrible and is not a reason to avoid the service, but it is noticeable at times.

I like the call screening feature, but I haven’t figured out a way to use it when my phone is connected via Bluetooth in my truck.  I end up trying to wrestle my phone out of my pocket, so I can press 1 to accept the call before it goes to voicemail.  I may have to disable call screening.

The biggest hole I have found in the Google Voice experience is the inability to click on a phone number in an email or text message and have the number dialed via Google Voice.  Many of the numbers I dial are contained in emails or text messages.  When you click on a number that way, it is dialed with your actual cell phone number, and not your Google Voice number.  There may not be a way around this, but it is an issue if you want to keep your actual cell number secret, so people will use your Google Voice number.  And even more so after you’ve ported the number that everyone knows to Google Voice.

Would I Do It Again?

So, knowing what I know now, would I still port my long-time cell number to Google Voice?

It’s sort of a tough call.  I really don’t like the kludginess of making calls, particularly the inability to click on a number and dial via Google Voice.  On the other hand, there is a lot to love about the all-in Google Voice experience.

I think I’d do it again.  In no small part because I believe Google Voice is a work in progress that will get better and better.  At some point- and I hope it’s sooner rather than later- I expect Google will become a direct carrier.

I hope so.  Sign me up Google, I’m ready.

GoodSongs: Johnny Thunder

It’s sad and amazing how much really great music has faded out of print and into oblivion, as compared to all the crap that passes for new music these days.  Crap that will never fade into oblivion because it is born in digital format.

Need an example?

Johnny Thunder replaced Ben E. King as the lead singer for the Drifters, before he began his solo career.  This hard to find gem, a Tommy James cover,  is from a single (B-Side-Verbal Expressions of T.V.).

I can’t find any of Johnny’s early solo records anywhere (other than occasionally on eBay).  If you find them for sale at anything close to a reasonable price, let me know.

Some of Johnny’s later music can be purchased via his website, linked above.

Johnny Thunder - I'm Alive

Johnny Thunder – I’m Alive.

This is one awesome performance of a rocking song.

There’s an interesting interview with Johnny here.

Artist Notice: I am a musician and songwriter.  I do these posts to draw attention to great music in the hopes that our readers will buy these records and allow these artists to continue making great music.  If you don’t want us to feature your music, let us know and we’ll take the song file down immediately.  On the other hand, if you are an artist who does the sort of music we feature, let us know.  We’re always looking for new artists to feature.

Any Port in a Storm: A Silent Fly in Google Voice’s Otherwise Lovely Ointment

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I was finally able to port my cell number to Google Voice during last week’s test period (the porting feature is now open to everyone).  Without going into a lot of detail, let me just say that Google Voice is an awesome (and free) service that anyone even remotely interested in using tech to increase ease and efficiency should be using.  In fact, I’ll port my last remaining land line as soon as land lines can be ported directly to Google Voice.

First, a little about my porting experience, and then a serious problem that greatly detracts from the all-in Google Voice experience.  Anyone from Google Voice who is reading this, feel free to skip to the Sound of Silence section below, where I eloquently describe the problem I desperately want you to fix.

Long and Winding Road

ATT is my cell provider.  I am still under contract.  When I walked into the local and empty ATT store the other morning, I had a plan.  A mighty and logically flawless plan, that initially went nowhere.  I told the customer rep that I wanted to port out my cell number to Google Voice, and then port in my second land line to ATT and have that number become my new cell number.  In essence, I wanted to swap out phone numbers and keep everything else in-place.  Easy peasy.

“Oh, hell no.”  Was the gist of the response.  To port out my number would require me to cancel my contract and pay a fat early termination fee.  I was told I could plead my case to customer service, if I wanted to call the toll free number (611).

So I did. And, at least by ATT standards, it went really well.  ATT was very cooperative (I did mention, very nicely, that if I had to pay an early termination fee, I’d surely move all of our lines to Verizon).  Without too much difficulty, ATT was on board.  I was able to start the port-in process for my land line immediately (you need the number and your account number with the current land line carrier).  Porting a land line into ATT Wireless takes 5 days, but once I had the port underway, ATT removed my then current cell number from the contract, so I could port it to Google Voice.  That process takes around 24 hours, and is seamless.

Once I confirmed, via the web site ATT provides when you port-in a number, that the port-in of my land line was complete, I stopped back by the local and again empty ATT store and switched out my SIM card.  When I got there, the basic ATT account system did not yet show my ported-in number, but we were able to find it once my customer rep called the ATT Porting Department.  It took a while to get this all sorted out, but overall it was really easy.

So, finally, I’m ready to experience the full-on Google Voice life.  Not so fast.

The Sound of Silence

I ran home, eager to configure my Google Voice account.

When I went to my Google Voice page, my cell number was already in place (you’ll still get calls from your old Google Voice number for 3 months, to help you make the transition), and automatically removed from my list of  forwarding phones.

This is when the clouds began to darken.

When I tried to add my new cell number as a forwarding phone (which is mandatory if you actually want to receive calls on your cell phone), Google Voice could not ring my cell phone to verify it (verification via a 2-digit code is part of the configuration process).  Nothing happened.  I tried teens of times.  Then I tried to call my cell number from Google Voice (using another forwarding phone), so I could hear what happens.  It rang and rang on the calling end, and then eventually went to something similar to a busy signal.

After much hacking, I was finally able to verify my new cell number by forwarding my cell number via my cell phone (and not via Google Voice) to another number.  I tried many variations of this hack before I got one to work.

But even now, when someone calls my Google Voice number, my cell phone does not ring.  Silence.  Initially, I could not receive text messages via the Messages app on my cell phone (you can always get them via the Google Voice app, but when fully functional, the text messages also show up as native texts in your cell phone text app).

So I called ATT last night.  Again, the people I spoke to tried to help.  One lady told me she thought it was an LRN issue, as my LRN was from a prior carrier.  She fixed it, and said to wait until today and try again (because the changes they make “roll out” into ATT’s system on a staggered basis).

Today I am able to get text messages on my phone.  But my cell phone still does not ring when people call my Google Voice number.  My other phones and Google Talk ring fine, but not my cell phone.

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So I tried again to call my cell phone, using Google Voice and another forwarding phone.  After 14 rings on the calling side, my cell phone rings.  14!!!  No one is going to wait that long.  Equally as troublesome, I never hear the cell phone ring when people call my Google Voice number, presumably because the call goes to voicemail long before that (though, according to many users in the Google Voice forums, it still takes too long to go to voicemail).

I have no idea how to fix this, but it makes Google Voice virtually unusable for me, which is a pity given all the work I’ve done to set it up.  And the fact that my cell number is now ported to Google Voice.

I’ve  researched this issue extensively online, and there does not seem to be a known fix within the user community, even though this problem or some variation thereof is pretty common.

Hey Google, can you please shed some light on this, for all of us?  You have to answer our call before we can answer yours.

Do Androids Dream of Electronic Mail?

“Emigrate or degenerate! The choice is yours!”

android

I finally dipped my toe into the Android pool last weekend, with mixed results.  Here are the highs, the lows and the one mind-boggling deal stopper when it comes to the Android OS.

First, the hardware.  After reading about Android tablets forever, and specifically after reading Kevin Tofel’s pants pocket defense of the Samsung Galaxy Tab, I found myself braving the unspeakable horrors of Best Buy to look at one.  I was pleased to see that Verizon offers a monthly wireless broadband service with a $100 subsidy.   A chaotic half hour later, I walked out of Best Buy with a shiny new Galaxy Tab and a month to month contract with Verizon, which gives me 3 GB of monthly bandwidth for $35.

Things started off swimmingly.

Samsung-Galaxy-Tab

I was immediately surprised by how much I liked the smaller size of the Galaxy Tab, compared to the iPad.  It fits easily in the back pocket of my jeans.  It doesn’t really seem any smaller than the iPad when you’re using it.    It has a solid, well detailed feel, and is easy to set up and use.  In sum, it’s really pretty.

I was even more surprised by how much I like the Android OS.  With a little work, I found and installed most of my mandatory apps (Pandora, Google Reader, HeyTell, Foursquare, Evernote, Kindle, WordPress, etc.).  Most of these apps look and operate very similar to their iOS counterparts.  Sadly, there is no Words with Friends or Reeder app for Android.  I could find just about everthing else I needed, including the Newsome.Org app, which I hadn’t been able to use before.

With a little rearranging, I created a very nice Home screen, complete with a clock, weather and my most used apps.  I actually like the layout of this screen better than the one on my iPad.  I’d love to show you, but one of Android’s deficiencies is the lack of an easy way to take screenshots.

But it’s really pretty.  Trust me.

I thought the Android configuration process would be a chaotic mess based on what I’d read, but it wasn’t bad at all.  You have much more control in Android than in iOS, and so things occasionally go wrong.  But the process is enjoyable, nonetheless.

The Galaxy Tab serves as a wireless hotspot, something the iPad does not (yet) do.  This is huge for my wife and youngest daughter, who have a wi-fi only iPad and iPod, respectively.

And then, irritation and tragedy.

Just when I was thinking the Galaxy Tab might actually replace my iPad as my day to day tablet, I found something out that completely defies logic and sense: the Android OS does not play well with Google Apps.  Specifically, it is somewhere between extremely difficult and completely impossible to configure Google Sync to work with Google Apps email.

googlesync

I tried over and over, deleting all of the email content multiple times.  I tried via the Account manager, and I tried via the Gmail stand alone app.  I can send email.  I can see email in folders.  What I cannot do is access my inbox and see my incoming mail.  I get a recurring, frustrating and grammatically incorrect ""Cannot connect server" message.

I thought this might be a problem on the Google Apps end, but it works perfectly with TouchDown Exchange, a $20 app.  I’d pay multiples of $20 to get this problem fixed, but what I will not do is rely on a third party app- and interface- to manage my email.  I’m used to doing email via Exchange and Google Sync, and, by golly, that’s what I want.

I was also able to configure my work email via Exchange, so this problem seems to be limited to Android and Gmail and/or Google Apps.  You would think that Gmail and Google Apps seamless integration would be the one thing you could count on with the Google owned Android, which is tirelessly marketed as a robust alternative platform.  But no.

Sure, you can configure your Google Apps email to work via IMAP.  You can also travel by horse and buggy, but it’s slow, no fun and backwards.

For now, I’m using IMAP and frowning a little every time I check my mail.  This may have been inevitable, since, unlike with iOS, you are limited to a single Exchange account.

For the most part, I am really impressed with both the Galaxy Tab and the Android OS.  For the most part.

This email thing will, however, reduce my Galaxy Tab to toy status if I can’t resolve it.

That’s too bad, because other than a glaring defect in its email app, the Galaxy Tab is a neat little tablet.  That fits in my pocket, and could fit into my mobile strategy.