Geekfather.com

Reading with Reeder

If you aren't using an RSS reader, I have one question for you. Why not? They are a simple, free way to have articles about anything delivered to one place, so you don't have to check in with multiple websites everyday just to find out what's happening that interests you.

I use Google's Reader. It's simple enough, and because I like most things Google, it plays nicely with the other Google products I depend on, like it's Homepage.

Enter Reeder. It's a polished, yet simple platform to view your Google Reader content. The interface is straight forward and it has an awesome iPhone application, and just released for Mac, a beta version. 

Give Google Reader and Reeder a shot, let me know what you think. If you already have a method of scrubbing the wed via RSS that doesn't include either, tell me about it. 

Tough times in Windowland

Microsoft announced today it's laying off 5,000 workers, it's stocks plummeted to near 11-year lows. 

Google has even hit a rough patch.  But the story there seems to have a silver lining.

On a completely different note, Apple surprised many and posted better than expected earnings in the last quarter.*

* full disclosure- the geekfather and family own several macs and iPods, and the geekfather convinced his wife to buy a few shares of Apple stock several years ago.  Therefore, you should go out and buy a new Macbook ASAP.

The evolution of books

How do you take your book, electronically or hardcopy?

A lot of people wouldn't dare putting down a book for an Amazon Kindle or a smartphone, but some of us have.  I've read probably about 5 ebooks over the past 5 years.  My first was on a Palm Treo 650 and the others on my IPhone.

I keep the full sized Webster's Dictonary that used to take up valuable real estate on my desk on my phone now.

Colleges are even starting to explore ebooks for text books. A move that could save shoulders of students everywhere.

My biggest complaint of ebooks are the cost.  In many cases the price of a hard copy and an ebook are the same.  But the cost of producing the two has to be vastly cheaper for the electronic version.  There are several out of copyright books you can find for free if you dig around.  EReader, the program I use comes with a few titles like "Last of the Mohican's" and "Tarzan."  The latter I recently read and really enjoyed.

So what up? How do you take your literature?

Who needs Word?

I'm willing to wager everyone reading this has at one time or another used Microsoft Word.  It's been around for over 20 years, and is almost as common a product name as Kleenex or Q-Tip.

At at over $100 do you really need Word, or any for-pay word processing program for that matter?

According to some reports, many businesses use Word out of habit not necessity.  

I haven't used Microsoft Word in 2 and 1/2 years.  However I've read and written many Word documents.

Products like Google's Documents application, and Open Office software, give you the same function for the most part as Word without the hefty price tag.

I really like Google's Documents, you can use it on just about any web browser, save your work and return to it next time you log in, making your work almost always available to you.

The point is, if you think you need to spend your money on Word, why not just send it to me and use Google Documents or Open Office?

WIndows 7

Ok, I have to give my PC friends some equal time here and talk about Windows 7 which was previewed recently at the big Consumer Electronics Show out in Sin City.

While my personal computers are Macs, I do use Windows XP at work, and I have it installed on my Macbook in Bootcamp and Parallels.  There's really more than enough Windows in my life.  I didn't do the Vista upgrade, and my workplace, like many others didn't either.

I've used it on my father-in-law's laptop, and I admit, it's nice, what Vista wanted to be (OSX) is very admirable in my opinion, it's just they didn't have all the bugs worked out.

So now comes Windows 7.  It seems to me it's kind of like Vista 2, but after the train wreck Vista turned out to be they abandoned that moniker.  Good idea.

According to Microsoft, Windows 7 will offer a "better entertainment experience," and "make everyday tasks easier," plus "work the way consumer want."  Unlike Vista they didn't add.

I'm willing to give it a shot and load it through Bootcamp.  If you're interested the beta is available tomorrow, more information here.

Pandora

If you've never heard of the site Pandora.com, quit reading this, put on your headphones and go there now.

OK now that you're back you've realized what a site you've been missing.  Simply type in a song, artist, or genre and Pandora creates a "radio" station for you based on the information. 

I've been using Pandora for around 6 months and I love it, it's introduced me to a ton of new music.  If you hear something you like you can use links to buy from Amazon or ITunes, or you can bookmark the artist or song and return to it later.

If you have an IPhone, Pandora has an application you need to download.  The Pandora App gives you a great IPhone interface.  I even listen to it over my car's audio system and it works great on AT&T's Edge network.

Bottom line, Pandora's free and will give you endless hours of listening enjoyment.

Macworld Keynote

I certainly hope this year's keynote, Apple's last, will be available for download shortly.  I'd like to play it before I sleep as I think it would be a great cure for insomnia.

ILife '09 is nice and all.  New IPhoto with some features that will surely frustrate me, a revised IMovie that sounds like a big improvement over the last version.

The best part of the suite sounds like Garageband which will now offer music lessons, even some for purchase by musicians like Sting and John Fogarty.

New Macbook Pro 17" with the unibody design.

Updated ITunes, the good news from it is that many more offerings will be stripped of the sound impairing DRM.

Where was the Mac Mini update, something new for the IPhone, a new device of some kind, something innovative?  In a way I'm kind of glad, I can't afford any new toys right now.

The keynote ended with Tony Bennett singing "The Best is Yet to Come."  I certainly hope so.

Switchers

I made the leap from the PC's about 8 years ago.  After years of frustration over registry problems and other assorted Windows conundrums I took the advice of a close friend and switched.  I haven't looked back since.  However I've felt like an outsider among many of my friends and coworkers since my conversion.  

That's starting to change as the more and more folks are starting to migrate from the oft frustrating and plain world of XP and Vista to OSX.  From late June to late September 2008 Apple shipped over 2.5 million Macintosh computers.  I think the masses are beginning to see the light.  

Over the past month, 4 of my friends made the jump and purchased Macbooks.  And I think by and large they are very happy with their choice.  

So have you ever thought of switching?  Why, why not?

Youtube vs. Vimeo

So here's the dilemna; I want to post video reviews.  That is I record a review for you to play from an embedded movie player here on the website.  But which video site should I use, Youtube or Vimeo.  It's a tough call.

I spent part of an afternoon uploading the same piece of video to both using similar settings.  To be honest, I can't tell that much difference in quality.

Youtube's upload process of my 12mb movie file took a little less than 10 minutes, while Vimeo's was closer to 5. 

Youtube encodes video in Flash and in the h.264.  Vimeo is Flash only.  This is where I feel the need to stick with Youtube.  People can watch the uploaded videos on their Iphones.  It's also a part of Google. That means easier integration into other Google applications.  

That said I really like Vimeo, it's very smooth, and it has an option to upload HD video.  There is a workaround to watch Vimeo, or any other flash based video on iphone, which is actually kind of cool and involves creating an iphone site to show your transformed flash based videos.  But it's an extra step none the less.  So for now I'm going to post to both, which one ends up on here just depends on which way the wind's blowing.

Below I posted the same video in both Youtube and Vimeo, which do you like best, which do you use and why?  (By the way the video is of my baby girl's first week of walking, ain't she cute?)

Walkin' Higher Quality from Tim McGinnis on Vimeo.