Microsofts CEO Steve Ballmer this morning announced that he will resign within the next 12 months. The 57 year old CEO will depart after a successor is choosen.
Directly after the announcement, Microsoft shares went up 7% in the first hour of trading. Microsoft under Steve Ballmer have been criticized for his directions by investerers and others.
Microsoft stock at 10am Friday August 23
I visited Houston this weekend, and we decided to go to the Microsoft Store in The Galleria. The plan was to look at the Surface devices for a project I am currently working on (I will blog about this later this year, when we are closer to release). The thought was to take a look at the application on the web, before decided which device(s) to get for further testing. We also went to the Sony Store (pretty much next-door to Microsoft) to look at some laptops and to the Apple Store on the level above to check out their devices.
At Sony there was no problem looking at their laptops and other devices. They did not really have any tablets we were interested in, but we were still able to look at our application on their laptops, using Windows 8. Same thing at Apple, I accessed the application on an iPad Mini, no problem.
Then we went to Microsoft, and I started playing with a Surface RT device. Nice small form factor and, and surprisingly nice keyboard. I entered the URL for my server and expected the login prompt to show up. Instead I was redirected to the Microsoft Store webpage. OK, perhaps I had typed something wrong in the URL. I tried one more time, making sure the address was correct. Same result. We then asked a girl working in the store what was wrong. She explained that most pages are blocked, only a small number of commonly accessed pages were avaliable to surf to. That was supposedly because people went to “inappropriate pages”.
So obviously Microsoft don’t have access to the blocking technology that most companies (including the one I work at) use to block online gaming, adult sites or other categories deemed not appropriate for work. Why even have a store, when Best Buy or similar places is a much better place to actually test the device? Total fail by Microsoft.
“Do again, do right”, as my instructors in the Swedish Army would have said.
Note: The picture was taken with my Samsung Galaxy S4, using the camera mode to erase moving objects. At least 3 people walked in front of me while I took the picture, but as you can see, the phone did a good job at erasing them!
This weekend I got hold of Google’s latest gadget, Chromecast. As you may know, it is a small device, the size or a large thumbdrive, but with an HDMI connector instead of a USB connector.
It allows you to stream video (currently from Youtube, Netflix and Google Play) to a TV, as well as mirror the screen of the Chrome browser on the TV. In the box, you get the device, a USB wall charger, a mini-USB cable and a short HDMI extension cable.
The installation is extremely simple. First of all, you need a wireless network, and a device running Android, iOS or the a Windows/Mac computer running the Chrome browser.
Plug the Chromecast device into an available HDMI-port on the TV, connect the mini-USB power adapter and plug it into an outlet.
Power on the TV, and you are directed to download the app to your smartphone/tablet or a small program to your computer. On the computer you also download an extension to the Chrome browser that let you mirror the screen on the TV.
I downloaded the Android version of the app on my Samsung Galaxy S4, and it found the Chromecast device at once. I connected to the device, and was now able to start playing videos. The total time to hook everything up, installing the software and connecting my phone to it took no more than 3 minutes.
After playing a couple of Youtube videos and starting a movie on Netflix, I decided to test the screen mirroring. The browser extension simply adds a small icon in the browser, and when I click it, the contents of the browser (excluding the title bar, menus, status bar, etc) are displayed on the TV.
I tested some streaming video from Swedish TV, watching a news show. It worked perfectly, but there was a delay of between 2 and 3 seconds between the computer and the TV.
The sounds comes out of the TV speakers, and during my testing the sound and picture quality was good. I was not performing the test on my network at home, and because of a sometimes weak signal, one of the Youtube videos had to buffer a bit.
The Chromecast device works by running an embedded version of Chrome OS, which in turn is based on Linux. It then stream videos to the TV directly from the source. Netflix, Youtube and Google Play all have software in the device to handle their streaming content. The laptop, tablet or phone is just a remote control, starting/stopping/pausing the video (or in the case of Netflix, going back 10 seconds if you missed something). I am guessing that the screen mirroring works the same. I would imagine that the browser plugin is just sending commands to the embedded Chrome browser in the device, duplicating what happens on the screen.
So what is my verdict? Well, for $35, it is a great little gadget. For me personally it is perfect, I can now watch TV shows from Sweden even while in the US, without having to hook up a computer to the TV. I can use a laptop or smart phone as a remote. I have not been able to get Chrome on Android to mirror it’s screen, but I can see apps and hacks for Chromecast coming out very soon.
If you already have Youtube and Netflix in your TV or blu-ray player, then Chromecast might not be as interesting. But if you want to use the screen mirroring, it is great. That function would also be very good for presentations on a big screen TV. In short, a very cool and fun gadget, to a very reasonable price. It is not threatening Apple TV or Roku yet, but is a nice low-cost alternative.
Currently it is very hard to get hold of a Chromecast, they sold out within hours of becoming available. A big thanks to Chrissy Hull, who let me test the one she got, making this review possible.
Click on the image to go to the Live Stream.
The event starts at 7pm ET.
This evening, Samsung is launching their latest phone in the Galaxy S series. The new model is logically called S4, and is expected to have full HD resolution (1920×1080) on a 5-inch (or 4.99-inch) screen, as well as a 13MP camera. It is still unclear what processor will power the new phone, but some rumors say a quad-core for the North American market and an eight-core for the international models.
The event takes place in New York tonight at 7pm Eastern time, and there will of course be a live stream. It can be viewed here.
I recently decided I needed a new graphics card at home. As I mentioned last month, a new version of SimCity is coming out soon (next week, as a matter of fact)
My previous card, a Nvidia GeForce 7900 GS with 256MB memory, was purchased in the end of 2006, and it was at that time considered a upper mid-range graphics cards. At this time, I built myself a new computer to play the brand new Flight Simulator X, which was a demanding game both for graphics and CPU. I think I paid $189 for it.
That card was nice, even if I still could not play Flight Simulator with smooth graphics in the highest resolution and with highest realism/quality settings. But I could not justify spending hundreds of dollar on a faster/better graphics card. I don’t play that much games, most of what I do at home is using Photoshop, video editing and programming.
But today — after some online research and comparison of benchmarks for different cards — I went to my local Fry’s Electronics during lunch and purchased the Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti with 2GB DDR5 memory, at a price of $299. I also got a $10 mail-in rebate (which I probably will forget to send in) and a free download of Assassin’s Creed III.
Here is a comparison of the two cards. Amazing what have happened in 6 years…
Comparison between my old Nvidia GeForce 7900 GS and ne GeForce GTX 660 Ti.
Click on image for larger version.
There are a number of cloud storage services available, all with similar functionality. The differences are mostly in the details, like amount of free storage, what platforms the clients are available for, etc. I mentioned some of them in a previous entry on this blog, when I wrote about some useful Android apps.
So what is cloud storage? The first people ask me when I tell them about these storage services is what “the cloud” is. Some even think it is an Apple product or service (because of iCloud). I think Wikipedia has a good explanation:
Cloud computing is the use of computing resources (hardware and software) that are delivered as a service over a network (typically the Internet). The name comes from the use of a cloud-shaped symbol as an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it contains in system diagrams.
Cloud storage is basically that you get space to store your files securely somewhere on the Internet, in a data center somewhere in the world. You then typically install a client program or app on your computer and/or smartphone to access the files. You can then upload a file from one computer or device and access it from any other device. Several of the services also integrate the storage with online editing withouth the user having to download files to edit them and then upload them again.
A typical example is how I use cloud storage. I have SugarSync and DropBox installed on my Android phone. When I take a picture, it is automatically uploaded to DropBox when I have wifi connectivity. I could set it to always upload, even through mobile data, but I set it to wifi only to save on my data plan. The pictures are available at once on my computer at work as well as on my computers at home (two of them with DropBox installed).
This actually saved me during Connect 2013. I store all photos on the SD card in the phone, and that card got fried halfway through the conference. In a normal case, i would have lost all the pictures I had taken that far, but now I had them uploaded to DropBox, and did not lose anything.
I also use DropBox to store certain files I want to be able to access both from home and from work. Like Photoshop files I use for my blog, funny pictures I find online or personal documents like my resume.
I use Microsoft Skydrive OneDrive for some other files, for example a book I am working on. I can then work on the book on any computer (even my Android phone!), even if the devices/computer does not have Word installed. Skydrive OneDrive includes a Word web app, while Google Drive and Box offers the same functionality using Google Docs.
Some services create their own folder on the computers where the shared files are stored, other let you share existing files, like My Documents. Most also allow you to share files with others, either a full directory or individual files. The person you share the files with does not need an account with the service, the file can be accessed through an URL, but having an account makes it easier to share whole directories.
Most of the services uses the freemium business model, you get a certain storage for free, and then you pay if you want more, after you tried it out.
Dropbox gives you 2 GB, but through referrals you can increase this. You can send emails to yoru friends from the site, or simply share a URL. You both get additional space this way. If any of my readers are not using Dropbox yet, use this link to sign up, to get additional space: http://db.tt/Yl563Kf
SugarSync used to offer 2 GB, but recently increased it to 5 GB for free. They also have a referral system similar to Dropbox, feel free to use this link to sign up: http://bit.ly/XmJQNf
Microsoft SkyDrive OneDrive offers 7 GB free, or 25 GB if you signed up early (before April 20012). You use your Hotmail/Live/Outlook.com account to login to the service, and it also includes integration with Office on the desktop, as well as editing files using the Word Web App directly in the browser. Update: As of February 19, 2014 Skydrive has been renamed OneDrive, and a referral system has been added. If anyone signs up using your personal link, you and the other person both get 500MB extra storage. Feel free to sign up using my link: http://bit.ly/1c2RvrI
Box (formerly Box.net) offers 5 GB free storage. When I installed ASTRO File Manager the other day on my Android phone, I was offered 25 GB free storage. I haven’t explored the functionality of the service very much yet
Google Drive is one of the latest entries on the cloud storage arena. It was launched less than a year ago, in April 2012, and offers 5 GB of free storage together with access to Google Docs, the web-based office suite, so documents can be edited directly online.
iCloud is Apples offering. The user get 5 GB for free here as well. Currently iCloud only works on mobile devices using the iOS operating system (i.e. iPhone), but there are clients for both MacOS and Windows. The service allows users to backup their contacts, photos and other data on the phone wirelessly and automatically.
Ubuntu One is a service from Canonical, giving users the customary 5 GB of free storage. It is aimed at Ubuntu users, but there are clients for Windows, MacOS, Android and iOS as well. Ubuntu One also offers music streaming, included in a paid upgrade.
There are more similar services, but the ones listed above are the most popular ones. Wikipedia has an overview of file hosting services, where you can find out more how they compare to each other.
In the department for cool gadgets, AlwaysInnovating is developing MeCam, a small helicopter (or nano copter as they call it) that fit in your palm and can be controlled by voice and stream video to your smartphone. It can take 360 degreee panorama pictures and even uses noice cancelling to remove the motor sound. The device is powered by an ARM Cortex A9, and it has 14 on-board sensors to prevent it from hitting walls or objects as it follows you.
MeCam nano copter
MSRP is said to be $49 when it is available. Read more here.
I have not been blogging here during Lotusphere/Connect 2013. It was a very busy conference, I went to a large number of sessions, and also many social gatherings of different kinds. In addition, I have been blogging at SocialBizUG.org, and if you don’t have an account there, go get on. If you already are a member of LotusUserGroup.org, your login credentials from there should work.
Below are links to my blog entries at that site. Enjoy!
Day 2 – Opening General Session
I also want to share the traditional yearly blogger picture on the Lotusphere stage:
The Blogger Community in the traditional Lotusphere picture.
Photo by John Roling, used with permission.
This weekend I picked up a 120 GB Samsung SSD drive at my local TigerDirect. It was on sale, $89.99 plus sales tax, so the final cost ended up being just below $100. I also had to get an adapter for 2.5″ form factor to 3.5″ drive bay. My hope is that this will give me enough of a performance boost to avoid having to spend many hundreds of dollar on a new, faster processor, a new motherboard and new memory.
Yesterday afternoon I installed it in my disktop, and started reinstalling Windows 7. I decided to perform a clean install, as it has been almost 2 years since I installed the operating system, and I noticed some slowness (especially during boot time) compared with when the system was new.
The important thing to remember about SSD drives is that they have a limited number of writes. I will only install the operating system and any major pieces of software (Lotus Notes, LibraOffice, Photoshop, Sony Vegas and a few more that I constantly use) on that drive. All data, including the Notes Data data directory and the Windows user data (My Documents, My Pictures, etc) will be located on my D-drive, which is a traditional harddisk. I also put the Windows swap file on that drive.
Mike Brown posted the other day about his frustrations installing Windows 7, also on a SSD drive. I always disconnect all other drives anyway when reinstalling an operating system, but I suspect his issues had to do with previous installs leaving things in the boot records on drives. However, he is completely right that Microsoft ignores the possibility that someone wants to have other operating systems installed in a dual boot environment. Very annoying.
One big advantage with installing on a new drive is that I still have the old drive, with existing data (files, bookmarks, etc) so they can easily be moved over to the new installation. I also have a reference of installed software, I just have to look in the Program Files directory to find out what software I had previously installed.
I can tell a substantial decrease in startup time after the reinstall on the SSD drive, but I expected nothing less from a clean install. Now I just have to install all my other programs and see what the end result will be.
120 GB Samsung SSD drive
I think most would agree that Hewlett-Packard made the best handheld calculators ever, epecially in the scientific market. The financial HP-12C, introduced in 1981, is still being manufactured today. Some financial companies still issue those calculators to their staff.
Emu48 for Windows
My personal history with HP goes back to my early childhood. Back in 1974-75, my cousin moved from Blekinge in southern Sweden to Stockholm after getting a job at Hewlett-Packard. For the first few months he lived with me and my family, until he was able to find an apartment. Through him, I got to see some early computers, once he brought home a computer, a plotter and a very early aucoustic modem. He connected it to a server back at HP and downloaded pictures to print on the plotter.
He also got my family our first calculator, an HP-21. It was the non-programmable version of the HP-25, with red LED display and rechargable battery pack.
In 8th grade we were allowed to start using calculators in math. So I got the then brand new HP-15C, a scientific programmable calculator that still is one of the best calculators ever made. I used it for a couple of years, and then switched to HP-28C and then (the next year) I upgraded to the HP-28S, with more memory. I also got the battery-operated infrared printer, HP82240A.
Finally, in 1990, I bought my last HP calculator, the HP-48SX. It was the replacement to HP-28S, and was later upgraded to become HP-48GX.
There was always a fairly large community dedicated to HP calculators. There were disks with programs (Joe Horn’s Goodies Disks) and all kind of information, including how you could open your calculator and solder on more memory… I also had several friends who used HP calculators, but the big majority of the students in my school did not understand the Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) used by HP on all their calculators except the financial models. That could be a good thing, as nobody ever asked to borrow my calculator when they forgot their own…
HP-48SX Emulator for Android
There are several emulators for HP calculators available, both for computers and for smartphones.
In Windows I use the wonderful Emu48 by Christoph Giesselink . It requires a copy of the ROM from a HP48SX or GX (depending on which calculator you want to emulate). The good news is that since 2000, Hewlett-Packard are generous enough to allow the use of ROM files even if you don’t own a calculator.
On my Android phone, until recently I used the Droid48 emulator . It is a HP48GX emulator, but it also has a HP-48SX mode with a simplified look. However, the other day I found a modified version of it called Droid48sx that looks just like the real thing.
There is also an emulator for HP48GX for the iPhone, called i48. Just like the other emulators it is based on the open source x48 project.
If you want a user/programming manual for the HP-48, the users guide for the 48G/GX is here and the advanced users reference manual is here.
There are also emulators for many other HP calculators, including HP-12C and HP-15C versions for Android which you have to pay for. There are free emulators for HP-18B/28C and HP-28S/42S, and many more.
Finally I want to share a picture of my HP-48SX, manufactured in the second week of 1990 (according to the serial number) and my 82240A printer (manufactured week 31 of 1987).
My HP-48SX calculator and 82240A printer