As I'm sitting at my desk going through the normal mundane lunch hour emails, I came across an email from my I.T. manager. It was a link to the new exciting Google Autopilot. Google always comes out with bland new features I never use so I was reluctant to click the link. Then I said 'what the hell'.
I clicked the link and it brought me to the Google Autopilot page. I'm not a programmer, but when I see new features I always try to figure out how it works under the hood. When I read the overview I thought to myself, 'this might be a nice feature', Then comes the examples......
If anyone hasn't seen it yet the link is below.
http://mail.google.com/mail/help/autopilot/index.html
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Garmin Nuvi 205 Packs A Wallet Without Draining It
My apologies to all. I said I was going to have this review up a few weeks ago, but I've been bogged down with work and now school. In any event, here's my review of the Nuvi 205:
It's now become commonplace among drivers to have their handy GPS systems in the car as they navigate the roads of America. Hanging from windshields or dashboards, GPS devices have saved the time and effort of thousands of gas attendants across the world. I've always said I didn't need one, until I found myself in the middle of some dark country farm town when all I wanted to do was go to the mall. This Christmas I got a GPS of my very own. A Garmin Nuvi 205. This little GPS does all that I need for half the price of some of the big boy GPS systems.
What are we all looking for in a GPS? Give up? Hey, I got it! We want it to guides us from point A to point B. The Garmin Nuvi is definitely that. Let's start with the screen. The screen is 3" but is very much viewable by anyone driving. There's an adjustable brightness setting that allows you to customize the view. The GPS is very sleek and not heavy at all, going at about the same weight as the average blackberry. It is also small enough to fit in my pocket.
Features:
The Garmin Nuvi 205 doesn't have text to speech capability, which means you won't get a voice guide that tells you to turn on a particular street, rather you will hear a voice that simply tells you to turn when you're approaching the street. At first I cringed to not having this feature, but then again, I have my music blasting most of the time so I wouldn't hear it anyway. The Nuvi displays the upcoming direction across a green bar at the top of the display so you'll never be confused as to what your next direction will be.
The Nuvi 205 also allows you to customize your trip based on different avoidances. There's an option to avoid traffic, highways, tolls, u-turns, ferries and a couple of others. Just remember to change these settings before you enter your trip destination. Not to say that you couldn't change the avoidances in mid trip, but your map will recalculate based on your change.
The Nuvi 205 is pretty good at mapping out POI (Points Of Interest). Some of the POIs include: food, fuel, transit, shopping, bank/atm, lodging, parking, hospitals and entertainment. If you can't find a particular POI you can spell it and the Nuvi will locate it. I found this to be pretty hit or miss as some of the more well known POIs in my area could not be found, such as Home Depot and Lowes. But overall, if I spelled out a location i'm confident it would be found.
The only drawback or simply confusing things about the Nuvi 205 was entering addresses if you're not in that state. Let me explain. When you set up the Nuvi 205 you have to enter a state / province. This is the basis of all your searches. Meaning, if you searched for a street address, it searched for a street address in the state you previously entered. So if I wanted to search for an address out of state I have to change the state. I find it to be cumbersome because every time I want to go somewhere out of state I have to change the state on the unit and not simply type in the state as a one time address find. You get used to it though.
I don't know where the Nuvi 205 gets it's maps from, but sometimes it would guide me with directions I am 100% sure I could have got to quicker. I guess this is with all GPS units, as a lot of them use the same satellite maps.
As said earlier, the Nuv 205 isn't a bad deal. It doesn't have the bells and whistles as the big boys but it simply does what a GPS is supposed to do. At $199, it could become an attractive price point for many. Although if you shop around I'm sure you can find it a few bucks cheaper. I got mine for $189.
It's now become commonplace among drivers to have their handy GPS systems in the car as they navigate the roads of America. Hanging from windshields or dashboards, GPS devices have saved the time and effort of thousands of gas attendants across the world. I've always said I didn't need one, until I found myself in the middle of some dark country farm town when all I wanted to do was go to the mall. This Christmas I got a GPS of my very own. A Garmin Nuvi 205. This little GPS does all that I need for half the price of some of the big boy GPS systems.
What are we all looking for in a GPS? Give up? Hey, I got it! We want it to guides us from point A to point B. The Garmin Nuvi is definitely that. Let's start with the screen. The screen is 3" but is very much viewable by anyone driving. There's an adjustable brightness setting that allows you to customize the view. The GPS is very sleek and not heavy at all, going at about the same weight as the average blackberry. It is also small enough to fit in my pocket.
Features:
The Garmin Nuvi 205 doesn't have text to speech capability, which means you won't get a voice guide that tells you to turn on a particular street, rather you will hear a voice that simply tells you to turn when you're approaching the street. At first I cringed to not having this feature, but then again, I have my music blasting most of the time so I wouldn't hear it anyway. The Nuvi displays the upcoming direction across a green bar at the top of the display so you'll never be confused as to what your next direction will be.
The Nuvi 205 also allows you to customize your trip based on different avoidances. There's an option to avoid traffic, highways, tolls, u-turns, ferries and a couple of others. Just remember to change these settings before you enter your trip destination. Not to say that you couldn't change the avoidances in mid trip, but your map will recalculate based on your change.
The Nuvi 205 is pretty good at mapping out POI (Points Of Interest). Some of the POIs include: food, fuel, transit, shopping, bank/atm, lodging, parking, hospitals and entertainment. If you can't find a particular POI you can spell it and the Nuvi will locate it. I found this to be pretty hit or miss as some of the more well known POIs in my area could not be found, such as Home Depot and Lowes. But overall, if I spelled out a location i'm confident it would be found.
The only drawback or simply confusing things about the Nuvi 205 was entering addresses if you're not in that state. Let me explain. When you set up the Nuvi 205 you have to enter a state / province. This is the basis of all your searches. Meaning, if you searched for a street address, it searched for a street address in the state you previously entered. So if I wanted to search for an address out of state I have to change the state. I find it to be cumbersome because every time I want to go somewhere out of state I have to change the state on the unit and not simply type in the state as a one time address find. You get used to it though.
I don't know where the Nuvi 205 gets it's maps from, but sometimes it would guide me with directions I am 100% sure I could have got to quicker. I guess this is with all GPS units, as a lot of them use the same satellite maps.
As said earlier, the Nuv 205 isn't a bad deal. It doesn't have the bells and whistles as the big boys but it simply does what a GPS is supposed to do. At $199, it could become an attractive price point for many. Although if you shop around I'm sure you can find it a few bucks cheaper. I got mine for $189.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Google Chrome Now Out of Beta
Google has officially released Chrome as a production web browser. I didn't particularly like the beta version of Chrome, but bug fixes and new add-ons by Google will have me download the web browser again for testing. One of the issues I had was the scrolling from the touch pad on my laptop, or the lack thereof.
I don't know how much of the market share Google is actively looking to capture with their new browser. Internet Explorer still captures the majority of the market, with Mozilla Firefox trailing. At the time of writing Mac and Linux versions of Chrome are still being developed.
Speed and security were the two main focuses of Google developers when building Chrome. I will have to put this to the test. I'll run a side by side comparison when I finally get a copy of Chrome running on my laptop. But for now Chrome is off and running and we'll see if it shines.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Microsoft and Netflix Team Up
I made a Twitter entry earlier today asking if anyone used the new Xbox 360 Netflix streaming feature yet. I haven't until this point because of my scheduling issues, but I thought hey...I have some downtime right now...why not try it.
For those of you under a rock for the last couple of weeks, Microsoft and Netflix teamed up to streaming movies via Netflix to the Xbox 360 Marketplace. Now you can stream over 1,000 Netflix movies and TV episodes right to your TV. The Xbox 360 is the first gaming console to let you do this. This is a nice move for Netflix as it further tries to gain market share.
Being able to stream content right to your TV from Xbox 360 will definitely appeal to many folks. The only downside (if you even want to call it a downside) with Netflix is you don't have that immediate gratification like you would Blockbuster's brick and mortar stores. Now with Netflix streaming, you can get what you want, when you want instantly. I'm not sure how many New Release titles you'll be able to get via Netflix streaming, but I do know there are quite a few titles.
My only gripe with the service is you get hit twice with membership fees, as this feature is only available for those with Xbox Live Gold memberships and also Netflix subscribers. Xbox Live Gold Memberships are $49.99 per year along with your monthly Netflix bill.
By no means am I saying this is a bad thing, if it can be justified. I don't think I can see myself paying an extra $50 for a live membership I more than likely won't use other than for Netflix streaming. It only averages out to about $4.16 a month which if you look at it like that doesn't seem bad at all.
If you don't subscribe you get a road block like I did. LOL
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Google Adds 'To-Do Lists' for Gmail
Google has added a To-Do List gadget for gmail. My only question is, why the long wait? I mean, this isn't some ground breaking addition. I used to use the 'Remember The Milk' to-do list but found that I always forgot what I had to do.I am not that big on to-do lists anyway, although some may find it useful. In order to get the gadget you have to be logged into your gmail account. Click on the settings option which is located on the top right hand side of the gmail screen. Once inside select the 'Labs' tab. You will see the new Tasks gadget. Simply choose the Enable radio button and click the save changes button at the bottom of the screen. Exit back to your gmail inbox. You'll see the tasks option right under your contact list. Click on Tasks and you're good to go.
To-Do Lists allow you to do the usual. Add tasks, show completed tasks, clear completed tasks. It also allows you to pop the tasks menu into an active window.
I could see this gadget being useful as long as you're logged on to gmail. But what happens when you log off. How will you remember your tasks? Even if you are logged into gmail you're not going have your eyes plastered on your to-do list, so how will you remember if you're not being reminded? If I have a task to complete I merely use the calendar so that way I can get reminders via SMS if I'm away from my computer. A nice future add-on to the to-do list gadget could allow a task to be imported into your calendar. Another cool addition could be a nudge feature which could alert you periodically reminding you of your impending task.
All in all this is a nice little feature, but by no means a slam dunk winner for Google.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
My Thoughts on Twitter
It seems as if everyone is on Twitter nowadays. Everyone from avid web 2.0 enthusiasts to journalists are posting their whereabouts on Twitter. For those that don't know what Twitter is exactly. It's a new social networking phenomenon that keeps everyone involved with your happenings on a day to day, minute to minute basis. For instance, people who are connected in your Twitter circle can know what you're doing at this very moment by posting to a Twitter page. On your way downtown to grab lunch? Found a great bagel shop on the West side? Doing absolutely nothing in your apartment? It all can be twittered. Now everyone can know that you're sitting at home staring at the wall.I am not a big fan of Twitter. Not because of it's usefulness, but because of it's relevance or lack thereof. Why do I want to know you're in Footlocker trying on size 10 sneakers. I don't exactly want to know the new Charmin you purchased feels oh so soft on your tush. But in this new age of real time capturing of life it seems that everyone wants to know what everyone is doing every minute of the day. I for one like some bit of privacy in my life. I'm not saying you have to chronicle your entire daily movements, but I like to keep my life simple.
But not to be one who criticizes the soup without tasting it, I will indeed sign up for a Twitter account in attempts at changing my own opinion. As my opinions are solely from a person looking from the outside in. But I do think if used wisely Twitter can be a great thing. Especially if it involves announcements or happenings. It would basically compliment an all email or text message blast. I could even see Twitter being useful as a blog companion.
So give me some feedback. Give me your thoughts on Twitter and if you use it. More importantly, if you enjoy it. What do you Twitter?
Friday, March 7, 2008
Free WiFi comes at a price in Denver International Airport
Courtesy of Ars Technica. Story by John Timmer | Published: March 06, 2008 - 02:15PM CT
The limitations of web filtering software have been extensively documented; most software arbitrarily excludes sites with educational or other sophisticated content, while clearly pornographic material sporadically slips through. Oddly, the limitations haven't stopped organizations or, in the case of Australia, an entire government from attempting to deploy them. The international airport in Denver recently took the plunge and started using filtering software when they converted their WiFi network to free access. The results are an excellent illustration of what leads an organization to choose a solution that's annoying, arbitrary, and ineffective.
read more...
The limitations of web filtering software have been extensively documented; most software arbitrarily excludes sites with educational or other sophisticated content, while clearly pornographic material sporadically slips through. Oddly, the limitations haven't stopped organizations or, in the case of Australia, an entire government from attempting to deploy them. The international airport in Denver recently took the plunge and started using filtering software when they converted their WiFi network to free access. The results are an excellent illustration of what leads an organization to choose a solution that's annoying, arbitrary, and ineffective.
read more...
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