Category: Tech

Why I Paid $774.00 for Windows Live Writer

Windows Live Writer is Microsoft’s flagship application.  Whether they know it or not.  There are companies being built on plugging the one remaining Mac hole.

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When I capitulated to Mac, I wanted to go all-in.  I really did not want to install Parallels.  The only Windows program that either (a) I haven’t realized I don’t need, or (b) I haven’t found a (generally superior) Mac substitute for, is Windows Live Writer.

How crazy is that?  I don’t need Windows 7.  I don’t need Office for Windows.  I don’t need any of that stuff.

But I do need one little free program that writes blog posts.  Because it is infinitely better than the WordPress native editor.  And infinity times infinity better than any of the crappy Mac blog editors.

Which means that I had to buy Parallels 7, which so far is really elegant, and runs perfectly under Lion.  And I had to keep a Windows 7 license.  The latter being no problem since my TechNet subscription is still in effect.

But if it weren’t, I would have eventually forked over a $120 or so, just for the OS that will allow me to install Live Writer on my Mac.

And there’s more.  Knowing that I’d probably have to do this, I bought extra RAM when I bought my iMac.  16 GB, when I would have otherwise settled for 8.

Let’s recap.

Just to install Live Writer, I bought:

Parallels Upgrade $54
Windows 7 $120***
8 GB RAM $600.

$774.00.  Just for Live Writer.  Sounds crazy, I know.  But after suffering through the alternatives for a couple of weeks, it seems like a great deal.

*** I didn’t have to pay any extra because I have a TechNet account, but I would have had it come to that.

I’m not the only Mac user who has installed Windows 7 primarily to use Live Writer.  All of this tells me that some smart developer could create a really good Mac blog editor, sell it for $50 or so, and make a fortune.

MacAge: iPhoto Hates the Cloud

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I’m now well into my latest Mac era, and things are generally going well.  I adore my iMac.  I like iMovie.  And I love iPhoto.  With one exception.  iPhoto does not play well with the Cloud.

Once I took my Windows computers and my Windows Home Server offline, I decided on a two-part, redundant back-up plan.  First, I replaced my wireless access points with two Airport Extremes and a Time Capsule.  This did four important things for me.  One, it allowed me to attach some external hard drives to that equipment to replace the network storage (not backup; just regular storage for raw video production files, music production files, etc.) I had on the Windows Home Server.  Two, it allowed me to create a roaming wireless network, since all of the gear is Apple.  With a roaming network, you connect at one location, and then your connection automatically switches to other access points as you move around the house.  Three, it allowed me to install a mobile Airport Express that I can use to stream my music to other places in and around the house.  And four, it allowed the Time Capsule to back up the various computers.  Time Capsules make backing up your Mac about as easy as possible.

So as far as the local network goes, I’m all set.

Then, the cloud.

I have a ton of SugarSync space (get additional free space by signing up via that link), and have used it happily for many years as my primary cloud backup service.  As I’ve noted before, it’s a pain to switch computers in SugarSync, because you have to re-upload all the stuff you’ve already uploaded.  If you have hundreds of Gigabytes, that can take a while.  So I decided to put all of my previously uploaded photos in a SugarSync storage folder, and only back up my iPhoto Library, where all of my current and future photos will reside.  In other words, all of my existing photos will stay right where they are, and only the new ones will get uploaded from my iMac.

Great plan, right?

Nope.  Because SugarSync cannot sync or adequately backup the iPhoto Library.

iPhoto imports your photos into a file bundle, which shows up as “iPhoto Library” on your computer.

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That’s fine and dandy, but it makes it impossible to sync your photos via SugarSync or another cloud-based service.  Even worse, it makes it very hard to back up your photos in the cloud.  In fact, to prevent users from corrupting their libraries by trying to sync their iPhoto Libraries, the iPhoto Library doesn’t even show up in the SugarSync file manager.

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This is what those of us in the know call a BFP.

There is a work-around that will let you back up the original photos, which iPhoto stores in a “Masters” folder within the iPhoto file bundle.  But that’s not what I want.  I want to backup my entire iPhoto Library, so I can download it and restore everything in the event of a catastrophic data loss.

Some will claim that the forthcoming iCloud will be the answer.  Maybe, but if 50 Gigabytes of space costs $100 a year and your iPhoto Library is triple Gigabytes, it looks like you’re out of luck.

There’s a newish service called Dolly Drive, that let’s you back up data to the cloud using Time Machine.  That sounds like a perfect solution, but I don’t want to pay for yet another cloud, and am not willing to trust my data to just anyone.

So…

I dig my Mac.  But I am frustrated by the inability to set up an automated, incremental, cloud based backup for my photos.

Mars Edit Update: I’m trying.  Really.  But after using Live Writer for so long, Mars Edit feels like writing in quicksand.  Or concrete. Need a small example, of many?  There is no way to set link targets, so links open in a separate page.  Really.

Life in the Fast Lane: Adios Load Hogs

Now that I’m all into minimalism and whatnot, I decided to clean out my study.

Chill

And my blog.

Over the past few weeks I’ve noticed a substantial increase in the load-time for Newsome.Org.  The culprits change from time to time.  One of them was Wibya, which I dumped several weeks ago.  Another was Lijit, the blog search application I have used for years.  I like the way it shows you what people are searching for, and where- geographically- they came from.  But if the page never finishes loading, no one can search it.

So today I gave Lijit the boot.  In favor of a good old Google site search.  Sure, some of the tracking data is gone, but the script loads quickly.  And results are shown right on the page, as opposed to a separate window.  It seems fast, and bare.  I dig that.

Facebook seems to drag a little too.  I haven’t dumped the “Like” button yet, but it is on my watch list.  My new mantra: be fast or be gone.

I’ve used the Yahoo Media Player for years and years.  I hope it doesn’t die with the rest of Yahoo.  Fast and lean replacement suggestions are appreciated.

And then there’s Disqus.  It seems to drag a little sometimes.  My love of its features and my dread at the prospect of replacing it without losing thousands of comments lead me to hang on, for now.

I want things fast and simple.  There are very few features worth the wait of a slow-loading page.

Oh, and I got a new backpack to tote my gear around.  It’s much better than the old diaper bag backpack I was using.  And now that I’m using a MacBook Air, there’s no poop of any kind in it.

Stm

Fast.  And lean.  That’s the ticket.

MacAge: Filling the Live Writer Void

I’m almost a week into my all-in Apple era. So far, it’s mostly wonderful. The iLife apps are far better than anything available for Windows- iPhoto alone makes the switch worth it.  Adobe let me switch my Photoshop license to Mac (though they stubbornly insisted on snail mailing me the discs, even though I’ve downloaded my last several Photoshop versions).  The machine is elegant, and my study is much more relaxing without the big, loud HP computer, dual monitors and all the associated hardware.  I understand what people mean when they say that Macs “just work.”

The keyboard is taking some getting used to, after decades of Microsoft ergonomic keyboard use.  The typos are legion, but I’m getting there. I think.

On the other hand, I really love the magic trackpad. I am surprised at how easily I have abandoned my much-beloved Trackball Explorer. Those things are hard to find, and now I have a couple to sell.  Stay tuned as I try to turn all my Windows gear into a family iMac.  Need a scanner, or some new 27″ Dell monitors?  Drop me a line.

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Thanks for the memories!

But, boy, do I miss Live Writer. I am mostly OK with the WordPress embedded editor, but I miss the added features and resulting speed of a dedicated blogging app.

So, I’m test-driving some of the scant Mac options. This post is being written in Mars Edit. I can make it work, but it’s a harder than via Live Writer. Maybe it will have the iMovie effect- you know, where something looks really messed up at first, until you suddenly realize how awesome it is. I hope so.

I’ll have more later on my transition, including my dumping of Windows Home Server, largely because of Microsoft’s dumping of Drive Extender, for a Time Capsule. For now, I’m going to see if I can get Mars Edit to connect with my blog so I can post this.

I’m In Love with My Air

Queue the Queen song (Spotify link) and change a couple of letters.

So here’s how it went down.  First, Delaney made all A’s for the entire school year, thereby earning herself a MacBook Air.  She loved it from the first minute.

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Then Raina killed her 30th or so computer via some combination of misuse, her weird electrical charges and bad luck.  I talked her into getting a MacBook Air.  My thought was that it would be harder to kill than her 31st Windows desktop.  She loved it from the first minute.  It’s still alive after a couple of weeks, so it’s already outlived several of its predecessors.

Then I realized that I couldn’t really travel for more than a day or two without a laptop.  I love my iPad, but I have to have the ability to edit Word documents and whatnot.  I looked at my old, massive, HP laptop.  And said “hell no.”  No way I’m lugging that thing around.

So I bought my own MacBook Air.  And I loved it from the first minute.  The trackpad takes some getting used to at first, but after a day or two, you realize how well it is made and how logically it works.  I like it heaps.

In fact, after finally figuring out how to get video files from my camcorder into iMovie (the secret is to plug the entire camera into the computer, and not just try to import the stripped out video files; which is an annoyance, but by no means a deal stopper), I started thinking about going all-in.  I probably will, when my aging HP desktop bites the dust.  I see an iMac in my future- maybe.

I do miss Live Writer, though.  Not enough to install Parallels, but a lot.  It’s too bad there isn’t a Mac equivalent, but there isn’t.  And yes, I’ve looked at the available options.

So, I am now fully Apple where mobile technology is concerned.  MacBook Air, iPad and iPhone.  All that’s standing between me and complete Apple capitulation is a shiny new iMac.  Somehow I think resistance is futile.

Earl is going to tell me he told me so.  And he did.

RIP Topify

I’ve praised Topify before, saying that it was one of the most useful little apps in my toolbox.  I’ve used it for over two years, and it has saved me a ton of time, by allowing me to manage my Twitter follows and un-follows (for those dumbasses who think auto-DMing someone will somehow make them money) via email.

Last week, Twitter changed the format of its email notifications, which broke the Topify’s method of  identifying and processing Twitter notification-related emails.  I don’t care enough about Twitter to explore this in any detail, but my general impression has long been that Twitter has a very schizophrenic relationship with the developer community- they love them- until they don’t. 

I was immediately worried that the end may be near for Topify, and today I received an email and read a blog post that confirmed my fears.  Topify is shutting down on August 5, 2011.

There’s theoretically some way to work around this change, but Arik Fraimovich, Topify’s developer, made the understandable decision to throw in the towel:

I considered switching to using the Streaming API in the past, but the only option for Topify is to use the Site Streams version of it. But Site Streams are still in beta, and according to the documentation there is no estimated date for it to exit beta. Considering this last episode and other actions by Twitter in the past year, I have no desire to expriment with their beta offerings. Not only this can result in unstable service for you, they might just shut it down one day.

Unless you are making a butt-load of money in the meantime, why in the world would developers work on small value-additive apps, when they know from experience that Twitter can and probably will pull the rug out from under them at any time?

All I can say to that is, thanks Arik for a great little service.  I used it every day for years, and it will be missed.

Now I’m going to have to visit Twitter to un-follow everyone who auto-DMs me

Why Do a Bunch of Of Other People Have My Same Gmail Address?

Being the  Google Apps loving, Google+ excluded, long-time domain owning cat that I am, I don’t use them much anymore, but I own several regular Gmail email addresses.  I get occasional email at these addresses, mostly from websites where I didn’t want to give my real email address, so I have configured my Google Apps Gmail account to check them regularly.  Emails to those accounts show up in a designated folder in my regular Gmail app.

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A year or so ago, I started getting emails that weren’t intended for me, addressed to one of those old email addresses: knewsome at gmail.  Over time, the amount of email increased.  Now I get several a week.  Most of the time I just delete them, or unsubscribe, if that is an option.  Once I got what appeared to be an important email from a wife to her husband, so I emailed her from another email address and told her that I wasn’t her husband.  I got another one from her the other day.  She wanted him to call her at work, before 6:15.

At this point, I’ve unsubscribed, deleted and, in that one case, emailed, about as much as I can, to no avail.  The emails keep coming.

I can’t get Tim Westergren to give me a straight answer on the Pandora hobbling 6-skips an hour limitation, but I got this today, welcoming some other Knewsome to Pandora:

Thanks so much for joining Pandora! We’re very happy to have you on board, and we look forward to providing you with endless hours of great music listening and discovery.  The Music Genome Project has been a 10-year labor of love, and we hope you’ll enjoy the results.

Yesterday, Google wrote me, not to tell me I can finally use Google+, but to tell someone named Kenneth that his newest Gmail email address, signed up for via the Knewsome account, is ready:

Congratulations on creating your brand new Gmail address,
knewsome1968@gmail.com.  Please keep this email for your records, as it contains an important verification code that you may need should you ever encounter problems or forget your password.

There’s more.  Meredith, Holly and Margaret invited me to the AHHS Class of 2001 10 Year Reunion in Forth Worth, Texas.   Hope it was fun.  I graduated from High School before they were born.

I got an email about a Scholastic Book Order from a third grade teacher in Florida.  Hope those girls got their books.

Someone named Kindal was about to waste his/her money on some software program.  The salesman’s email was so over the top, I couldn’t even tell what he was selling.

Clearly, these are not all the same person, and at least some of them are not spammers or scammers.  It looks like a whole bunch of people are using the knewsome at gmail address like some sort of shared phone line.  I don’t use that address, so I don’t care all that much.

But it is troubling.  And apparently not an isolated event.  These folks are complaining to Google.  As are these.

Has anyone else experienced this sort of thing with their Gmail accounts?

Spotify Wins the Race to My Desktop (and Heart)

Everybody and their dog is talking about Spotify today, which is understandable since it, finally, finally launched in the United States this morning.  I’ll keep this (sort of) short.

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I have been holding a secret sweepstakes in my head about which much ballyhooed app would find its way to my desktop first.  Google+, which is the talk of the internets, and still, amazingly,  unavailable to Google Apps users, or Spotify, the Holy Grail of music apps.  Spotify won.

I’ve been using Spotify for a few months, and can say unequivocally that it is the best music app I have ever used.  By far.  Now that it’s officially available and I don’t have to worry about some record-label madness derailing my joy, here’s what I know.

One, Spotify is going to completely change the music game, for the better.  I simply cannot believe there is a true music fan that won’t find $5 or $10 a month a screaming bargain for what Spotify offers.  Spotify has already replaced Windows Media Player and the bloated train wreck  that is iTunes as my default music player.

Two, I have cancelled my Slacker Radio account, and may very well cancel my Pandora account.  The 6-skip an hour limitation on Pandora (even the paid accounts) is simply a deal-stopper for me.  The only thing that could ensure that I keep Pandora will be if it gets to my car quickly and cheaply.  I want to dump Sirius XM (and the annoyance that is Mojo Nixon) much more than I want to dump Pandora, so the dashboard is open for Pandora to secure its place in my paid apps lineup.

Three, unlike 99% of the apps out there, Spotify does social right.  The sharing features really add something to the experience.  As soon as I add some alt. country, country rock, classic rock and blues loving friends to my Spotify circle, music discovery will be a significant, and fun, part of the experience.

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Four, while there are tons and tons of songs in Spotify’s library, there are some holes around the edges.  Particularly as it relates to less mainstream and older music.  One of the first things I did was to try to add all the alt. country songs I thumbed up via Pandora to a Spotify playlist.  I was a little surprised at how many weren’t available.  I hope the library grows like I know the user base will.

Five, as amazing as this may sound, I have not added my huge local music library to Spotify.  I have 26,000 or so (legal, non-shared) songs on my music server.  The thing is, there are probably 15,000 or so of them that I never want to hear again.  I’m afraid things would get too cluttered if I tossed my entire library into my Spotify window.  Rather, I am going to use local files to fill in some of the gaps, and use Spotify’s library as my main one.  This may change, but that’s the current plan.

I’m really stoked about Spotify.  Now, if Google will stop screwing over Google Apps users, my desktop (and heart) will be full of joy.

Dropbox vs Windows Live Mesh: I Can Answer That Question

Paul Thurrott, one of my favorite tech bloggers, asks why someone would use Dropbox over… wait for it… Windows Live Mesh.

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Let me try to stop laughing long enough to answer that question.

OK, I think I’m OK now.  Here goes.

One, Microsoft does a horrible job of marketing its apps.  It may have the greatest set of apps on earth, but it can’t even figure out what to call them, much less how to effectively communicate to people what they do and why they are awesome.  Seriously, I am a long time Microsoft user and TechNet subscriber, and I don’t even know what Live Mesh (what a stupid, stupid name) is.  I think it’s the (God knows how many times) renamed FolderShare app that Microsoft bought back in 2005.  I actually used FolderShare before it became a casualty to Microsoft’s (lack of a) marketing plan.

Two, Microsoft’s non-core apps tend to be very kludgy.  Dropbox may only be a folder on my computer, but it’s a folder that I can access with a click of an icon, and easily drag items into.  Sharing is as easy as a right click.  As far as I know, there is no way to mount Sky Drive as a folder on my computer, in the absence of Gladinet or some third party work-around.  Even when Microsoft adds features that compare favorably with other offerings, like the ability to sync multiple folders and more space, it generally trips over itself in some way- like the fact that you can’t access Sky Drive via Live Mesh.  Or the fact that you need two separate apps in the first place.  Between the ever-changing (and ridiculous) names and the (real or perceived) learning curve, many people will choose the ease of Dropbox.

Which is sort of too bad, because the battle for the cloud is wide open.

I agree with Ed Bott that the latest Dropbox security breach is a big deal.  I’m a believer in the cloud, but every day I see more and more evidence that the cloud is still being formed, and no one has adequate security in place.  I also agree that scale matters in the cloud.  I would trust Amazon or Microsoft to keep my data safer than Dropbox.  But I’m not willing to spend hours trying to figure out how to mesh (pun intended) Microsoft’s products into a workable solution.  And if I feel that way as a tech blogger and geek, how do you think the typical internet user feels?

The fact is that you install Dropbox and you’re done.  To replicate that with Microsoft either is or seems like (it really doesn’t matter which) the equivalent of a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle.  It might be beautiful, but few people have the time and patience to tackle it.

I have no doubt that for someone like Ed or Paul, who are very learned in tech in general and Microsoft in particular, the Windows mesh/mess of apps, when placed in the right order, is a fine, and maybe even preferable, solution.

Meanwhile, the rest of us go on living our lives, using Dropbox and hoping that Dropbox gets its security ducks in a row, so we don’t have to go try to figure out what Microsoft’s apps are called that day, and how they work.