Last week I attended the “computer security” conference HOPE (Hackers on Planet Earth), held every two years in NYC. The title of this year’s event was “The Last Hope”, but it may not be the last. Unfortunately I had to work Friday and was not able to get to the convention until about 4pm, luckily it was being held only 2 avenues away from my workplace. I had never attended HOPE in the past, although I have gone to Las Vegas for DEFCON several times in the past 10 years. HOPE is organized by the crew over at 2600: The Hacker Quarterly.

continue reading "The Last HOPE Wrap-Up"

I know there are hundreds, if not thousands of list of Windows “free software” on the web. But every time I read one of those lists, I usually find one or two applications which I wasn’t aware of previously. So I figured that one more list couldn’t hurt. People like lists. There will obviously be a lot of things that you have seen before, but I’m sure some of you will find some new gems to try. This is by no means a complete list of Freeware. I am only adding software to this list that I’ve used and determined to be worthwhile. Many of these applications may fall on the “geeky” side, as I mainly do IT consulting.

continue reading "Free Windows Software - Yet Another List"

I finally got my invite to the Skyfire Beta after a long wait for an invite. It was well worth the wait. Skyfire is a new web browser for the Windows Mobile platform that allows you to view “full” web pages. This includes the ability to watch streaming video, flash based content, and full Javascript support. All of the “Web 2.0″ style sites that I’ve tested Skyfire on have worked for the most part. This includes personal favorites such as Netvibes and Hulu. I was really surprised that Hulu works. A major feature of the browser is that you can watch Youtube videos, which is cool and all, but I’ve been able to do that for quite some time with the FlashVideoBundle “hack” for Windows Mobile. I was very surprised that Hulu works.

The streaming video portion of the browser is cool. Its a tad choppy on my Verizon EVDO setup, but the audio is clear. I hear it works better on a WIFI connection, but I don’t have WIFI to test it on at the moment. The current version of Skyfire is 0.6 Beta. I am treating this version as more “proof of concept” versus what the final product will look/function like. That may be wishful thinking, but I can’t pass final judgment yet.

UPDATE: I am testing video streaming via WIFI at the moment, and it is indeed much smoother over the WIFI versus EVDO.

Some of the navigation/zooming features are cool on Skyfire, some are not so cool. I believe they will work out some of the bugs in future releases. I think some of the limitations may just be due to the small screens on Windows Mobile based phones. Any of the performance related issues I’ve experienced with Skyfire are probably because of the limited processing power and memory available on Windows Mobile handsets.

Overall, Skyfire looks very promising and is worth signing up for the beta. It will not replace PocketIE for text browsing just yet, but has a lot of potential, especially on future mobile devices.

Well, I did it. I killed my Treo 700w. It took a tumble and the screen cracked. I had insurance and I could have gotten it replaced, but I decided to just get a new phone instead. I was up for my “new every 2″ with Verizon, so I decided to pick up the Samsung SCH-i760. I’ve got mixed feelings about it right now. I used to hate my Treo 700w for mostly performance related reasons. After only a couple days of playing with the SCH-i760 I’m starting to miss some of the Treo’s better features. It’s a mixed bag.

The Samsung SCH-i760 definitely out performs the Treo 700w in terms of speed and stability. Windows Mobile 6 looks pretty, but beyond a user interface “paint job” little has changed in the functionality. The thing I’m missing most about the Treo 700w right now is the ease of one handed operation. The SCH-i760 has a slide out keyboard, so typing with one hand is out of the question. Still, I’m almost glad to have the performance over ease of use at this point.

I will write some posts detailing anything interesting I’ve found out about the SCH-i760 in the near future. I’m still working out the kinks and trying to figure out how best to use this sucker. The only thing I can see right now is that while the SCH-i760 construction seems tight, its no Treo 700w. I’m afraid the first time I drop this thing its going to shatter into a million pieces. Lets all hope that doesn’t happen.

Maybe I set my expectations too high or maybe I am too critical, but DigitalLife 2007 was completely underwhelming. Being new to NYC I expected the “ultimate consumer technology, gaming & entertainment event of the year” to be an amazing experience. Wow, was I wrong.

I was expecting flashy booths and displays from some of the top electronics companies, however this was not the case. The few major companies with exhibits were showcasing the same stale old technology they’ve been schlepping for a while. Major companies you would expect to be at a show of this type were completely absent or under-represented. As far as “technology” offerings goes, many of the companies represented were “B-Level” companies. The gaming side of the convention was horrible with the notable exception of the Namco and Guitar Hero 3 booths. Virtually no other game producers were on hand to showcase their latest offerings. Entertainment wise, what entertainment? There was an exhibit at the Toshiba booth about HD-DVD and that is about it.

continue reading "DigitalLife 2007 A Huge Disappointment"