Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with tech

What top 10 techie lists do you know of?

handee — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 05:33:24 -0800

What "top n techie" lists do you know of? I'm specifically after lists of the movers and shakers in the tech scene, rather than the cutest a la Violet Blue, but hottest geek lists are also interesting. I'm not bothered about time frame - I'd like to see lists from top geeks of 2009 to top geeks of all time.

Computer Swapping?

StrikeTheViol — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 18:37:08 -0800

Swapping my laptop for a desktop and monitor instead of selling? My plans have changed, and my laptop and furniture are not working together well and causing me pain. Now that my career plans have changed, I find I have little reason to keep my Sony VAIO AW-series laptop, purchased earlier this year, for its intended purpose, and the laptop, while fitting well with my college's furniture and my old wheelchair, is causing me neck strain and back pain at home. Considering I'll be home at least till September, and then perhaps at another school, I wonder if there's any way to get my hands on a desktop and adjustable monitor without having to sell (and then likely buy) on eBay. Any tips, hive?

Pen not recognized on Tablet PC

kzin602 — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 12:23:51 -0800

I have a Fujitsu Lifebook T4210. After the screen broke I ordered a replacement from ebay that looked like someone just selling stripped computers. He said it was 100% operable. After installing it everything works including the LCD but the pen is not recognized. Wacom uses a general driver for all tablet pcs, so I ruled that out. All connections are secure and since I had two of everything I even tried swapping cables out to see if one was faulty. Lastly I removed the digitizer from the old unit. I knew that one worked, it was just a huge line across my lcd that was damaged. So, I figured I could swap them out. It still is not recognizing my pen. The pen is passive so it is probably hard to break so I don't think its that. I don't know much about wacom digitizers so maybe I caused damage when changing them out? Fujitsu seems to be stumped too, they just want to charge me 750 to have them replace the whole screen unit. What are some things I can test to see where the problem is? Any help or advice will be much appreciated. BTW, Everything else works fine, just not the tablet aspect, and I am running Windows 7.

I'm not sure what jobs I should be applying for.

Lakmir — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:52:43 -0800

What are some decent-paying jobs for someone who has B.A. degrees in English and in Psychology, and a lot of unofficial and very specialized technical knowledge but no "official" (i.e. paid) experience with such? Three and a half years ago, I graduated from a well-respected school with a bachelor's degree in English and another in Psychology. Of those, I've spent roughly two and a quarter working for a nonprofit in residential direct care - putting my psych degree to work for me, so to speak. There are a lot of problems with this: I'm facing major burnout, I work extremely long shifts, I'm slowly growing to hate the people I'm working with (the residents, not my coworkers), the pay is garbage and there's little or no opportunity for promotion. I'm not liking the field at all, and badly desire a career change.

In the meantime, I've also been doing a lot of hobby work on video games. Script writing and editing, localization programming (assembly languages), that sort of thing. I've gained a lot of really deep knowledge about old dead computers, some rudimentary management skills, and some really wonderful English narrative editing skills. There's also a smattering of MySQL knowledge that goes with the territory, a little bit of procedural C++, some technical writing (documentation and readmes), image editing, that sort of thing. I've been including this on my resume but it's not really "work" experience because I'm not getting any money for it, at least not in the eyes of most HR divisions.

Now I know the job market is impossible, but I have two degrees, a magna cum laude GPA, and am doing brain-breaking, psyche-draining work with an increasingly difficult population. I feel like I should be making more than $24K/year, you know? I need a change of job, but I don't know what sort of jobs I should be applying for.

So, my core question is: What sort of jobs I should be applying for? Administrative assistant? Researcher/analyst? Should I go for IT or web design, and if so, how much of a portfolio will I need to put together? I'm feeling increasingly lost and badly need to be pointed in the right direction!

As a corollary, how should I treat my technical stuff? It's vast and expansive, not to mention that it's the product of more than a decade's worth of blood, sweat, and tears, so I don't want to just make light of it with a few minor adjustments to a "Skills" list in a resume. But on the other hand, I applied at a temp agency not to long ago; they took one look at the stuff I've done as a hobby, pegged me for middle or upper management, and told me that I was overqualified for anything they had.

Here's some extra information in anticipation of responses from reading other questions. My chief loves in life are literature (both reading and writing), games of all kinds, music (both performing and listening), and problem solving. Further, I hate my job, but not only because I'm not making any money at it; the guys have all these little quirks that make everyone else mad, which they often knowingly abuse. So it's not necessarily about the money, but it wouldn't hurt to actually be able to start putting a little away...

Further, physical location is not an issue. I don't have much (if anything) put away but I can probably scrape together some change, and I have friends willing to lend me a bit of scratch to help finance a move.

I know this is a very open-ended question, but I'm frustrated and desperate. Please help!

Is there good sites that provide ranking of computer processors performance?

idyllhands — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:35:47 -0800

Is there good sites that provide ranking of computer processors performance? I am looking to buy a new PC, but am being patient for the right deal to come along. It would be nice to have a trustworthy source of which processors are "better." Any links to PC and/or laptop rankings is appreciated.

How to have a coherent group email conversation?

flummox — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:29:44 -0800

Recomendations needed for a good way to keep group email communications clear and unmuddled, you know emails zooming back and forth, people messing up addresses, cross talking etc. If you were about to embark on a email conversation with five people with much back and forth, one fraught with high emotions and perhaps family type dynamics, how would you make this work? Would you set agreed upon ground rules and/or would you use a tech solution. Is there a excellent ( hopefully free) software solution to this problem?

Given the rate of a fish upstream, what is the speed of that fish in still water. Eh?

sidd.darko — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:46:09 -0800

InterviewPrepFilter: I need to brush up on my numerical reasoning. I'm looking for ways to master things like word/story problems (probability, work-rate, distance), and some math review. I have good logic skills, but basic math can be confusing for me, esp. under pressure. Tutoring is not really an option and anything that is cram-friendly is also good. Any books, resources, tips, general guidance from math-y people ?

Help me rebuild my office helpdesk/workflow setup.

de1mar — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:09:29 -0800

TechFilter: I'm part of a medium-sized IT support company and we're looking at some new helpdesk/workflow management software. What advice can you give on your setup or software you are currently working with? I am currently looking at Heat from FrontRange Solutions, but it looks like it will take some time to setup. Here's some features that I am looking foward to:

• Workflow Management
• Call Logging/Tracking (most likely part of Workflow Management)
• Workflow Reporting
• Asset Management (to include hardware, software, Blackberries...etc)
• Knowledge Base

Any ideas will be greatly appreciated!!!

Where can I fit in a small tech startup?

studiosonic — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 08:56:25 -0800

Where can I fit into (and how can I find) a tech startup or small tech company, that does something I'm passionate about with my current skills/experience? I currently work for a large UK retail business in IT, based in London - joined on an IT graduate scheme about 4 years ago (I'm now 28). I've been working on the infrastructure side since I joined - I'm now technical lead for one of the major device management technologies in the company, working on a big upgrade project. In a nutshell it's a senior system administrator role. It's ok, money is ok, stress levels are ok etc.. but I really want to work somewhere where I'm passionate about what I do and what the company does - something which is more than just OK! I just feel like a cog in a big machine where I am - I don't feel what I do is at all relevant to what the company does. They could be doing anything - doesn't make much difference to my job. I just make sure devices are managed, patched etc..

I started to look at job sites, but I kept getting drawn to things that matched my skills, i.e. doing pretty much what I do now. Or consulting in what I do now. So, I then decided to take a step back and think about what I really wanted my next move to be. I think of cool companies like Spotify - small companies on the cutting edge, working with interesting internet-based technologies and subject matter. That's great, but then I hit the brick wall. How would I fit into a company like that? I don't want to go and look after their infrastructure so I'm once again supporting what a company does, not actually being involved in the business of what it does. I want to be in a position where I can help shape the company. Make an impact - feel invested in what I'm doing because I believe in the company's product.

The few jobs I manage to find in interesting companies seem to be either hardcore development jobs or business-focused jobs (sales etc..). I don't want to go into software development - I've done a little bit within my job, but nothing major. I don't mind the odd bit of it, but I wouldn't want to be a full time coder, and even if I did, I don't have a lot of experience in OOP anyway. I'm happy to become less technical to work for a more technical company, if that makes sense. Plus, with coding work often outsourced these days I see an analytical role as more of a long-term career path.

As for the business-focused side, I don't have a lot of real-world business experience. I worked in a job before I joined my current employer which was a support and implementation consultancy role for a small software company selling accountancy software and bespoke applications, but my experience since has been all in-house, not dealing with 'customers'. The company I worked for wasn't doing too well (in financial problems before I joined!) and it was not a subject matter that interested me in the slightest so I moved on after about a year.

So, what are my skills? Well, I pick up knowledge pretty quickly as I've been technical lead for a few non-related technologies in the four years I've been here. I'm technically savvy and I've got experience of managing relatively big internal IT projects, in a big company with all the processes that involves. I've had a couple of promotions in the time I've been here. I also believe I'm good at talking about technical things with technical and non-technical people alike. How could I market myself to a small startup with these sort of skills? If I'm not an experienced developer or sales/marketing guru, where would I fit in?

I was thinking maybe I could play on the project management side of my job, maybe take a PRINCE2 qualification to get a bit more structural knowledge - but are there many opportunities for that sort of role without going to a bigger company?

If I crack that, I see another brick wall ahead. How did I find these sort of roles? Smaller companies don't generally have ads on the big job sites and apart from keeping an eye on places like the UK job board at TechCrunch or startupglu.com, I get the feeling a lot of these jobs come through friends of friends etc..

Any advice, greatly appreciated!

Does Zune HD have VPN connectivity option?

omaralarifi — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 11:13:09 -0800

Does Zune HD have VPN connectivity option as iPod touch?

How to get an intro to computer sciences?

Mis-Information — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 11:14:12 -0800

Should I go back to school and take some computer programming classes? I've got my MLIS and work in Archives now, I'm sorta interested in Content Management but I have no useable computer knowledge. Would an introductory course help me see where my strenghts are and what I might possibly be good at? I'm not sure where to go from just having my Master's on top of the fact that I'm not sure I want to stay in the Archives field. I'm more interested in Records Management but I know I lack a lot of the tech experience

How to chose an server for a small mac digital media lab?

yuletide — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:43:23 -0800

I'm trying to figure out my options for setting up a small digital media lab for a new non-profit, but I have no idea how to set a minimum level of server specs! How much CPU and RAM do I really need? What determines this? The server will be used to administer local user accounts, and store files (including large media files). We may also end up using it to host our website and mail, if it makes sense (unlikely). All the main client computers will be macs, so I assume I should make life easier and just get an XServe. But I'm open to other suggestions. See below for some prices and models for various XServe's I'm trying to choose between. How low can I go? How much CPU/RAM do I need? Let me know if you need more information... Best Used Xserve Prices

* 2.0 GHz single G5, $800 (no OS), $1,000 (10.3 unlimited or 10.4 10 user), MacResource
* 2.0 GHz dual G5, $1,000 (10.3 10 user), $1,100 (10.4 10 user), MacResource
* 2.3 GHz dual G5, $1,649 shipped (10.4 unlimited), Power Max

Best Refurbished Xserve Prices
* 2.66 Ghz 4-core Xeon, $2,399, Apple
* 2.8 GHz 4-core Xeon, $2,100, Small Dog
* 3.0 GHz 4-core Xeon, $2,799, Apple

Best New Xserve Prices
* 2.26 GHz 4-core Nehalem, $2,888 shipped, Power Max
* 2.26 GHz 8-core Nehalem, $3,449 + shipping, ExperCom
* 2.66 GHz 8-core Nehalem, $4,799 + shipping, ExperCom
* 2.93 GHz 8-core Nehalem, $5,999 + shipping, ExperCom

Where'd my network card go!?

Squid Voltaire — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:33:13 -0800

My computer can't find its NIC, any ideas? I used to connect to the internet via CAT-5, as God intended, but for a year or so I've been using a PCI wireless card. Reception in the current location is terribly, though, so tonight I took a couple hundred feet of Ethernet cable and plugged myself directly into the router.

I plugged the other end into a ethernet port, and the little green light came on. However, once I disconnected from the wireless network, that was it, no further connection.

The Device Manager only lists one NIC--the wireless one. I turned on "View Hidden Devices", but it still didn't list it.

I went into BIOS and turned on "Integrated LAN RAM"--I have no idea what that means, but it did not make my network card suddenly appear. At this point, I ran out of ideas. Any further suggestions?

Motherboard is Biostar NF61S/V Micro AM2, and I'm 80% certain that I used to have a wired connection to this machine--is there some sneaky way that I disabled and then hid my card?

Help me update my PC / Windows literacy for the 21st Century

KMH — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 04:26:02 -0800

I used to feel pretty confident with computers / IT in general (80s child). Now I need a boost to get back up to speed, especially digging around in the OS / filesystem. Recommend me a good book / website / hands-on project? I want to improve my general PC knowledge, focussing on the real "under-the-hood" day-to-day stuff, like managing my Windows configuration, playing around with files, building my own website on my own domain etc.

The background is that back in the day (15 years ago!) I felt I knew more than average about computers; I had an Amiga back when they were more cutting edge and could play around with the set-up, etc. I could learn all I needed from Amiga Format and fellow geeky kids.

At university I did Physics, and we learned C++ and basically built a very, very simple memory unit and so forth, so I'm sure I have the "smarts" for this stuff. Plus I passed ECDL with no problems, I work with IT all the time, just not "under the hood".

It just seems the computer world has moved on a bit, and while I'm sure I could handle the ins and outs of Windows / DOS / etc etc, I feel I've missed the boat and there's way too much detail.

I own a fairly decent Inspiron laptop, but is it my imagination or is Windows just not self explanatory? Where is the manual? PC magazines don't seem to help much either.

Can anyone recommend a couple of books, websites, (cheap/free) online courses or whatever to get me back up to speed with this stuff???

ISO, W3C, OOXML/ODF: How do tech standards impact you?

trcook — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:17:06 -0800

What's your stake in international tech standards and OOXML?(I'm working up a thesis and I could use some input from the computer literate world) Ok, so I'm getting set to do my masters thesis in Public Administration, and I've decided to write about the wonderful world of international standardization-- mostly ICT(read: tech) standards (eg. HTML5, CSS3, domain naming/registering rules via ICANN, OOXML, ODF, PDF, anything from IEC ISO IEEE JTC1, etc.)

One area that I am exploring is output legitimacy in the standardization process. I have a pretty good theory, but I need some ideas about where to investigate for evidence...

This is where you come in. If you feel inclined, shout out about any of the following:
Why are standards important(to you)?

How have ICT standards impacted you/your job?

Are there International standards you have resisted implementing at your job or on a project? why?

Any first-hand accounts of political manipulation of the standards development process.

What's your take on the OOXML/ODF controversy? How will it impact you/your work? What long-term effects do you think the controversy will be?

Much thanks all,
Tom

Project manager? Technical lead? Code monkey?

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:04:51 -0800

I'm happy at the tech company I work for but am increasingly concerned about my career progression. Nearly a year ago, I took on new role as a project manager, moving from a role with a mix of development and client technical liaison/consulting. My company is currently strongly encouraging me to take on even more of a project management role. I think I'd rather move towards working as a technical lead, I'm concerned that getting myself too far removed from technical work now could make it too difficult to move back later. I could really use some advice from Metafilter-ites with experience in tech firms and technical project management! I'm having a bit of career crisis/confusion and was hoping people out there could help me out. Some background: I'm a 27 year old Engineering graduate working for a small/medium (just under 70 staff, 40 of whom are technical), successful software house. Most of the people here have Computer Science degrees (rather than Engineering). I've been here for 4 years, coming straight out of university. I'm asking anonymously because, well, this is to do with work. I've set up an email account if you'd like to get in touch - careercrisisanon@gmail.com.

Nearly a year ago I took on a new role as a Project Manager, moving from a role with a mix of development and technical liaison/consulting. My role basically involves overall ownership of a number of our products, along with a team of 5, where I carry the responsibility of Line Management for the team, Technical Lead for the products and Project Management for the medium/long term feature roadmap for the products my team maintains.

Realistically this means spending about 50% of my time planning work (a mixture of technical 'how are we going to actually do this' and 'how long is this going to take' type work, as well as some 'in what order are we going to do this to make our clients happy' etc type work), probably 20% of my time line managing, doing appraisals/1-to-1s/being stuck in meetings etc, 10% ish of my time feeding all this back to senior management, 10% of my time keeping an eye over our Account Management/Technical Account Management teams and ensuring our current and any existing clients are happy and finally 10% of my time coding/getting on with implementing technical stuff.

Looking forward to the next year I've been told that we're looking to increase my Project Management responsibilities in terms of running the team and organising work and that some of my technical responsibilities will naturally fall down to the guys in the team, and that this is basically needed for the next 6 - 12 months for the team to grow etc etc. However, I'm very aware that technical work is something I'm very interested in. I don't think I want to go full steam down the management route - in fact, from a long term career point of view, I think I'd rather head in a technical lead/team management with a lot of technical responsibility route rather than line/project management. I'm concerned that getting myself too far removed from the technical work now could make it difficult to move back across later.

My boss here has told me that he thinks my skills lie more with project delivery in terms of the 'full product lifecycle', i.e. getting business needs out of the client, turning them into technical requirements, managing the different needs of the project and getting it delivered on time and working. He also thinks I'm making a good Project Manager but that, after only a year in the job, have a lot more to learn and that leaving it now might not be the best plan for my career - and that by leaving this role now and coming back to it later in life I'd basically be starting from scratch again. As such they're recommending I carry on with what I'm doing/what they want me to be doing and stay less technical, and move across later if I decide I want to.

There are some other options available to me. I could go into a full development position, although that would probably have to be taking a step backwards and I'm not 100% convinced that I want to spend all my time coding without having wider responsibilities. I certainly enjoy having business/client focussed aspects to my work, but am just getting frustrated at the lack of any implementation in there.

There is also some discussion about having a 'Bespoke Projects' team which would probably entail managing a much smaller team (maybe me + 1 other) on shorter projects but probably re-hashing similar architectures again and again. This sounds like it could be interesting except for the 're-hashing similar tech again and again' side of things.

I feel like I'm at a bit of a crossroads, and that I need more information to make an informed decision. I'm wondering how much of a blocker doing more technical work is likely to be in the future if I move away now, and how that might effect my job prospects in the future. I'm certainly not convinced I want to be a full time manager for the rest of my career!

I've very happy with the company in general but to further complicate matters there is also a possibility that I may move abroad (from the US to Canada) with my girlfriend in the next 12 months or so, and I want to make sure I'm in the best position possible there for getting a technical job (probably in a small -> medium company) if/when I do.

Any advice on how I can best manage my career for the short (~1 year) and long term very much appreciated!

Working with Kids

Static Vagabond — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:12:20 -0800

I've been asked to look after two work experience kids (young teens) for the coming two weeks to experience and learn what I.T. is all about. What tasks can I give them that will educate and enlighten them while not killing my productivity? I get one per week, so I can repeat tasks for the second one if need be, the important thing for me is they get something out of the experience.

I can't really let them play in the sandpit that is my usual day to day work, as it's mostly dealing with custom systems and touches a lot of confidential information.

Rock meet hard place.

I want to make that time spent as useful for them as possible, and would ideally focus on tasks that are fairly easy to set in motion, then backing off while they explore/complete that task. Then getting involved again at the end to review/problem solve.

So what tasks can you suggest I could give a total newcomer to I.T that helps demonstrate the work of a techy?

I've thought of:

- Reformatting/installing machines. (easy and time-consuming)
- Getting them to install a backup solution on the above, then ripping out the hard drive (as a hardware failure example) and asking them to recover the computer/certain files.
- Software support for the main office workers (word, excel etc) if they're savvy, but I think they're just in the 'hmm.. I.T. might be interesting' stage and we don't generally run into problems with Office.
- Teach them how to make a network cable.
- If I can find a few machines to format, get them to create a little test network, with file-sharing, cross backups etc.
- Create some posters/adverts for the stores (not really I.T...)
- Create a webpage (in Dreamweaver or something WYSIWYG) for some part of our company site, even if it's never published.

Let those ideas flow!

PDF/HTML resumes?

Anonymous — Fri, 29 May 2009 11:36:37 -0800

How OK are PDF resumes in the tech sector? About to start applying for new jobs. I'm a Mac guy, no Windows, no MS Word, don't want any of it. Was thinking of putting together the resume in Pages (to make it prettier than Google Docs is capable of) and then bouncing that out in PDF and providing a URL to a HTML version as well as my LinkedIn profile. How do you think this will go over w/ hiring managers? I'll be mostly looking for a web dev lead position in a startup to mid-sized company.

I knew my first question was going to be edgy

Dr Dracator — Sat, 16 May 2009 12:09:19 -0800

Can anyone identify this Gillette DE razor I picked up at a flea market today? There is a large Gillette logo on top of the head. On the underside of the head there is a small Gillette logo, and the words "MADE IN ENGLAND". No other markings or numbers are visible.

The handle feels lighter than the head, and is probably hollow. It is also looks somewhat duller, I wouldn't be surprised if it actually comes from a different razor.

As an extra question, I'm guessing this is not a priceless antique so I'd like to try using it. Any tips for proper sterilisation short of using an autoclave would be greatly appreciated.

Can I make it as a lab tech?

pullayup — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 08:06:36 -0800

Is it realistic for me to expect that I can pay off my student loans with a lab tech job? I'll have my BS in biology soon, and I'm looking at lab tech jobs. These seem like they're just about the only thing I'll be specifically qualified for other than being a product rep, which is undesirable for other regions (e.g. 50% overnight travel).

Most of the jobs I've applied for pay new hires around $10-13/hour. My student loan payments will be $530/month; tight, but doable, though probably not enough to save very much. If I switch to a graduated repayment schedule, my initial payments will be closer to $350/month, but would go up to--well, I'm not sure, but no more than 3X the initial payment--$700-800/month, let's say.

So, the question: will my income after working as a lab tech for six to eight years be high enough to make those payments? Is there a career there, or are these jobs more of a layover for people planning to move on to graduate or medical school (which I am not going to do)?

Things to consider: I'm not considering the income-contingent plans, because the idea of paying $100,000 to discharge a $40,000 debt offends me, and I'm not wild about planning to make payments for basically my entire working life (I'm over thirty). I would probably be a lousy teacher.

I'd like to read about the early adopters of yesteryear...

melodykramer — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:00:19 -0800

I want to read as many things as I can about early adaptors of technologies of yesteryear (like the first people who jumped on the radio, transistors, calculators etc.) Do you know of any articles/books/people studying this? I'm looking for scholarly articles, I think. I guess what I'm looking for are journal articles or books, rather than magazine articles about newfangled technologies that are sweeping the nation.

Thank you in advance.

Why does external drive keep switching back to read-only setting?

noir — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 17:20:27 -0800

I have an external usb drive running off my Windows 7 computer. It keeps switching back to Read-Only, so when I try to send files to it, it merely appends a file and adds a number to its name, instead of re-writing the entire file. I've tried to change it back, but it does not stay changed. The minute I refresh the page, the read-only status comes back! Is there some setting I'm missing? Is there something in Windows 7 that's causing this to happen?

Choose my next phone: BlackBerry 8830 or Samsung Saga?

sesquipedalia — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 10:35:01 -0800

Choose my next phone: BlackBerry 8830 or Samsung Saga? Here's the deal -- I can choose one of these two Verizon phones via work. Major advantages to the Samsung (Windows Mobile 6) are camera and ability to edit Word / Excel docs, neither of which the BlackBerry has. (I know the latter can be solved via an expensive software purchase, but I'm cheap.) Major disadvantage to the Samsung is, well, Windows Mobile. Work email works fine on both phones, no problem. The Blackberry's trackball and the Samsung's 'optical mouse' seem equally good for navigation. That much I know.

Here are the things I'd like to do with the phone, in rough order of importance:

* Basic, clean, non-frustrating Web browsing
* Gmail account access (via dedicated app)
* Evernote access (via dedicated app)
* Ability to sync basic info (contacts/calendar/tasks) from my Mac (IN ADDITION TO the Exchange sync via work without hopeless sync confusion, if possible)
* Ability to write notes / text docs and sync them with my Mac in some semi-intuitive, useful way
* Ability to transfer video from my Mac (via iTunes if possible but not necessary) and view it using a decent media player; stereo audio if possible (I think this requires a particular Bluetooth profile?)
* Instapaper access (via dedicated app if possible)
* Facebook access (dedicated app would be nice but not necessary)
* NewsGator feed access (via dedicated app if possible)
* A decent library of stable, appealing, useful shareware/freeware (apps, games, etc)

And, of course, an interface that's reasonably attractive, intuitive and responsive (and won't cause me to throw the phone out the window) would be nice too.

Is either phone a clear winner? Am I asking for too much, even this far into the 21st century?

Epson Artisan 800 All-in-One Printer bought in USA? How to use in U.K?

omaralarifi — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 19:03:48 -0800

Just returned from fabulous 2 week holiday in New York. I Brought back Epson Artisan 800 All-in-One Printer from Staples costing $230. Unfortunately, I cannot use it in U.K., unless I plug voltage converter/transformer products. Has anyone else bought this set over there with more success? Any advice \ information appreciated. Please specify me What exact voltage converter product to buy & where to buy it from USA online store. Thanks. I checked again the Epson Artisan 800 All-in-One Printer power information:
Power Requirements

Rated voltage: 120 VAC
Rated frequency: 50 – 60 Hz
Rated current: 0.8 Amp

Power Consumption

Approx. 26 W ISO 10561
Approx. 5.5 W (Sleep Mode)
Approx. 0.3 W (Power Off Mode)
ENERGY STAR® compliant

This is why I cannot understand it blowing.

How to get a flash app from a webpage?

sumobob — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 18:06:44 -0800

How can I save a flash program from the internet? Alright so I'm taking a Chinese class and it has a really cool flash card program for learning words thats linked to the chapters. I just want to download it so I can use it offline from my computer. I've scourded the net but all I ever find is how to save movies and audio flash files. Mine needs to be interactive because you click on what chapter you want. I tried using safari to make it a dashboard widget (which is how I get started thinking about this problem incidentally) and it didn't go through right on dashboard. If anyone out theres knows an easy way to do this let me know.
The link's here
Just click on "Vocabulary Flash-cards" to see what I'm talking about.

P.S. I use a Mac and safari