bellingham public library audiobooks block ipod users April 20, 2008
Posted by Al Castle in : Puter Stuff, gnash-teeth, Must Listen, OSX, Travel, Web Design & Dev, iPhone , 1 comment so farThis evening I finished reading a book and was investigating whether the next book I’d like to read is available from the Whatcom County Library. I notice on their horrifically designed and sluggish website a blurb about audio books, now available. It is with some joy that I follow the link to Northwest Anytime and read more. Then the let down comes crashing down like a Bengal tiger to the groin.
At this time, OverDrive Media files cannot be used on iPods or Mac computers.
Our media titles, provided by OverDrive, Inc., use DRM (Digital Rights Management) protection technology from Microsoft Corporation. Unfortunately the iPod (and Mac) currently support neither DRM-protected Windows Media Audio (.wma) files nor Windows Media Video (.wmv) files.
OverDrive, along with hundreds of online media providers, is hopeful that Apple and Microsoft can reach an agreement that would enable support for Microsoft-based DRM-protected materials on the iPod/Mac.
To review a list of devices that are compatible with OverDrive Media, click here.
You may also want to check device documentation to determine if a device supports DRM-protected Windows Media content.
Reading through their FAQ…dear god. This wonderful software that you are required to use supports everything from Windows 98 on up. Oh, and in case you didn’t catch it, the company/product name for this wonderfully backward media software is called OverDrive. Is this a joke? Someone has to be playing an elaborate joke on me.
OverDrive has this tidbit on its website.
The OverDrive Team is a group of innovative, passionate masterminds who build and distribute technology solutions for the real world.
What twisted dimension did these guys crawl out of? Ok, I’m straying a little here. Back to the Library and its suckiness.
Ah here we go, apparently iPods are far too modern. Lets support the Palm!
Can I use OverDrive Audio Book titles with my Palm device? OverDrive Audio Book titles may be transferred to certain Palm devices with the help of a third party application called Pocket Tunes….
The iPod (& iTouch, iPhone, Shuffle) is decidedly the most prevalent portable music listening device on the market. Why then is the Bellingham Public Library, choosing to use a Windows Media Audio format and DRM solution that locks out the most widely used device for Mac and Windows users?
Yes, I would agree that Windows is what is running on the majority of desktops, but who really listens to audio books at their desktop? In your car and on your mp3 player are the more likely of places. Why the sites main blurb contains this statement.
Transfer audiobooks to your MP3 player or burn selected titles to a CD for listening on the go.
The press release for this service has this mention.
“This service is great for travelers, commuters, and for those who like to listen to books while they exercise,” said Joan Airoldi, Director of Whatcom County Library System. “With so many best-selling titles available, there’s sure to be something for every listener.”
Again, the majority of people are using iPod family products. The release goes onto say,
Beth Farley, Head of Information and Reader’s Services at the Bellingham Public Library, listens to audiobooks when she goes on vacation. “No more piles of CDs to keep track of on the airplane,” she enthuses, “I’ll be able to fit several entire novels on one tiny MP3 player.”
Alright, what the hell? I fly a lot and I’ve never seen anyone with a stack of CDs on a plane. And please tell me Ms Farley what sort of MP3 player do you have? Sounds to me like most bureaucratic organizations and companies, someone out of touch with the market and technology is making the decisions.
I really wish I wasn’t so agitated and it wasn’t so late. Otherwise I’d write a more coherent piece on why not only this is a very poor implementation of great idea, but also on the correct course of action the library, publishers, and most importantly authors should have taken.
Add Your Wireless Node To Expand Skyhook Wireless April 18, 2008
Posted by Al Castle in : Puter Stuff, OSX, Castle, Travel, iPhone , add a comment
Update: See the cool screen shot I took from my iPhone, using Capture. The pin represents the coordinates given by LocateMe to Maps. And the blue circle is the best Skyhook could do. Good thing I wasn’t really lost. At the time of the shot I was traveling north on the Guide at about 60 mph. Locate was a few blocks off to the west, but not too bad.
For those of us with iPhones and no GPS I tend to use the iPhone Maps built-in “Find Me” feature quite a bit. Although in some areas, especially north Whatcom County, it’s positioning is rather weak, usually providing a giant 10 mile radius that I might not even be in. Here’s a map of their coverage area.
I ended up installing an app called LocateMe on my iPhone which attempts to triangulate based solely upon cell towers. I can then hit the “Map It” button to have it load the longitude and latitude in Maps. This is usually closer, but provides only a specific map point and not an area.
As most iPhone users may know, Apple partnered with Skyhook Wireless for this positioning information which uses a combination of cell tower and mapped wireless access points (AP) to return results. Well now it appears you can submit your wireless access point for acceptance into their database.
I just submitted mine and received an automated reply.
Thank you for submitting a Wireless Access Point to Skyhook Wireless. The following information has been received and will be processed shortly:
MAC Address:
…blah….
Lat/Lon:blah, -blahIt can take up to a few weeks before you see your Access Point in some of our production systems. In the mean time you can download Loki to start using Skyhook’s Wi-Fi Positioning System on your laptop or desktop. Go to http://loki.com/download to start using Loki today.
Happy Mapping!
The Skyhook Team
I downloaded the Loki extension into Flock and after asking for permission to find my location it came up with nada. Instead asking me to enter my address, which it then displayed on a Google Map. That was big help.
Loki has a few demos and an API, none of the demos worked for me, but there was an embedded chat widget to speak with support. See screenshot. They never responded. So I’m uninstalling the Loki extension.
However, adding your wireless access points to their database will still help me out so have at it.
linux community gathers for annual spring fun April 17, 2008
Posted by Al Castle in : Puter Stuff, Marketing, Castle, Travel, Friends , 4commentsEvery April, a growing number of people from all walks of life gather in Bellingham, WA to share in the experience that is LinuxFest Northwest.
Attendees, sponsors, lecturers and exhibitors come from all over the Greater Northwest, including neighboring states and Vancouver, BC. For many enthusiasts of computers, software and technology, this is an event unlike any others.
Every year since it’s inception LinuxFest Northwest has been the diligent and hard work of a core group of the Bellingham Linux Users Group (BLUG) who shake the branches of our community and organize the nuts that fall out. Together with the Bellingham Technical College a strong supporter, providing the facility, and access to it’s many resources along with other neighboring and contributing computer users groups, the annual event comes together.
This is what makes LinuxFest unique. Everyone involved is a volunteer and everything is accomplished by pulling together. It’s not as glossy and shiny as MacWorld, nor expensive. The event is put on at no charge to the public. (And there’s better swag than at MacWorld.)
Anyone from any walk of life, any age, is more than welcome. You can learn about Linux and open source software, speak to industry leaders, authors, local businesses, and the guy across town who built something really cool in his garage. It’s all about sharing what you know and having a whole lot of fun.
Having attended and presented at previous fests, I’ve had a chance to meet and speak with some highly intelligent and creative people. Some of them famous in the technical arena, some not. My first time attending I was expecting boring lectures and presentations about how buying some corporate software would make me a happier person in life. Or a few dozen 30-somethings having crawled out of their basement wandering about.
Instead I met and talked to all kinds of interesting people. I remember sitting on a couch talking to a plain clothed police officer from the city of Blaine. We randomly started up a conversation about recovering files from a “perps” computer. Having some experience using several tools to recover files, but by no means an expert, I believe I pointed him in the right direction. The number of women and children attending was also surprising. This wasn’t an event just for the geeks.
It’s a free social event with a simple goal of sharing what we know about a piece of free software called Linux and the concept of open source. You may not be aware of it, but these things have and continue to reshape everything in your life. From your Tivo, to the the technology companies in your mutual fund. You may not be a “geek” or even know how to send an email let alone understand what “open source” means, and that’s okay. Come anyways, get involved in your community. A little knowledge can go along way and be fun.
- LinuxFest Northwest 2008 is a two day free event. April 26th - April 27th.
- Directions to the Bellingham Technical College.
- List of LinuxFest exhibitors.
- List of LinuxFest presentors.
- Official Website with more information including lodging.
Damn You Delta April 16, 2008
Posted by Al Castle in : gnash-teeth, Castle, Travel , add a commentI just received this email from Orbitz.
This is an update from OrbitzTLC to let you know that Delta Air Lines plans to begin charging most passengers a $25 fee each time a second bag is checked.
The new fee, which takes effect on May 1, 2008, is not included in your ticket price and can be paid when you check in at the airport.
Delta Medallion members and passengers traveling in first- and business-class cabins will still be allowed to check up to three bags at no additional charge.
Delta recently withdrew, after cutting back the number of flights and raising the prices, out of Bellingham International Airport. I used to fly from Bellingham to the Salt Lake City hub and then from there to the east coast or where ever.
These days I drive to Seattle now and fly coach. I hate SEATAC.
Yesterday on NPR I was listening to a discussion of how Delta will be merging/acquiring Northwest Airlines and how there’s still a labor dispute of getting the pilots onboard (pun). With fuel prices rising, airlines cutting back on routes, and now nickle ‘n dime charges. I’m even less happy with Delta than I was before. It’s not like their first class seats are very good either, but in comparison to the dingy chicken cages they provide for the economy experience, it can be marginally better depending on how old of a plane you get.
I also only carry one checked bag, so really this doesn’t apply to me, but I wanted to bitch about them anyways. All I ask is that I get unlimited sunchips, Sprite n’ vodka when flying first class. And guess what? Last time they ran out of sunchips.
Hotel Hygenie January 28, 2008
Posted by Al Castle in : gnash-teeth, Science, Castle, Travel , 1 comment so farThis is a disturbing video to watch - one of those hidden camera exposes about what really happens to the glasses you use in hotels. One health expert lists all the diseases you can catch from this type of practice. This in combination with how dirty you know the bedding is - I think I’m going to just start sleeping in rental cars and boiling everything before I touch it when I travel.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1329217643/bctid1329232712
Macworld Expo - Pictures January 26, 2008
Posted by Al Castle in : Puter Stuff, gnash-teeth, OSX, Picture of the Day, Marketing, Castle, Travel , 2comments
There were a ton of people at Macworld. Registration was a nightmare, I kept getting redirected to different registration stations by the staff even though I had registered online, but they sent the wrong ID badge. Finally I got it all straightened out and received a Macworld purse filled with MS Office M&M’s, a pen, notebook, lunch coupons for each day of the week, a magazine about the expo and a CDW 1GB flash drive. The number of Apple employees they had on hand to handle registration was impressive, it reminded me a lot of the INS.
Next was to tour all the booths and there were so many different vendors from the one man shops to the big names. The picture with the 3D glasses, yeah I have no idea. We were visiting a booth about backup software. Yet they were giving away 3D glasses, perhaps in an attempt to distract from the fact that with TimeMachine they really don’t have product anymore. This was perhaps one of the lamer marketing ideas, but I still had fun with it. Of course I can’t remember the name of the company so they get no plug here.
While wandering around, I noticed that comedian Sinbad had showed up. A crowd had gathered around him and he was being interviewed on camera. Not wanting to wait for the hub bub to die down I just ended up sneaking into the middle of the interview to get my picture taken.
Free WiFi was available, but it couldn’t realiably withstand the onslaught of thousands of geeks with their iPhones, iPodTouch, and notebooks all trying to connect to the Internet. While taking a break we headed outside of the Moscone Center, to a small corner where we happened upon a stronger signal to another business in the area. Here’s a lovely shot as we made camp to download some much needed iPhone upgrades and ate $6.00 cookies.
The place was pretty well packed the entire week, especially around the Macbook Air. We managed to fight our way through a crowd of disabled elderly people and actually play with one of the new notebooks. It’s a pretty slick looking peice of hardware, but a wee bit pricey.
While wandering about I noticed that someone from Apple Corp was making a fat joke about me. The enormous sign for everyone to see originally said “iPod Touch”, but Steve Jobs thought it would be cute to make fun of my extra pounds. At first I couldn’t believe it, but then we all had a good chuckle about it.
Nearby Intego’s “booth” was actually a giant green castle in my honor. All the attention was a bit embarrassing at first, but I just rolled with it. I wish they would have consulted me about the color though…
Since I was such a good sport about the whole “more to touch” thing, along with all the great work I’ve done over the years I was given an unexpected award. I was so excited I could barely contain it. I know during my acceptance speech I left out some very important people. I’m truly sorry, I was just so shocked by the whole thing and with the cameras flashing it was hard to focus. You all know who you are anyways.
Please note - This post *may* contain some satire, exageration, falsehoods, trophies, pictures, Apple products, me, Sinbad, misc people, green castles, my backpack and characters from the Roman alphabet. Yellow dye #6, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and berry juice.
Long term exposure to this post may cause retardation, compulsive masturbation and the desire to eat Mexican food. This post has not been approved by the FDA, NRA, CDC, ATF, JFK, LAX, or any letters brought to us by Sesame Street.
Macworld Expo - Home January 19, 2008
Posted by Al Castle in : Puter Stuff, gnash-teeth, OSX, Castle, Travel , 7comments1am PST - I’m finally home and in my own bed, after landing around 10pm in Seattle tonight. I flew out of Oakland and that airport is a joke, it has very limited selection for shops or food and is no smoking - it is the Lynden of airports. I arrived too early because my roomie had a flight out an hour and a half before mine. The shuttle van we took from the hotel was driven by a superbly bad ass, road-ninja. He must have greased the sides of the van with vaseline to make it past some of the tight spots.
Once at the airport I have about 4 hours to kill. I buy a day pass for overpriced wifi and reply to a few emails, IM a little, which ended with me close to tears. On the plane I throw greenies at the flight attendant and manage to maintain a nice vodka/sprite buzz while jamming out to my cranked ipod music. The people around me weren’t pleased, but tough noogies I was in no mood to pander to the commoners. Upon landing in Seatac it continued…
First, I had to harass the airline to find my luggage, eventually getting my luggage, and then making my way to the Master Park Valet garage. Here I realize I lost my printout for the discounted weekly rate. After retrieving the Benz and sending a few texts, I get ditched by a friend and decided to skip finding a hotel for the night and make the long drive back. No point brooding alone in a crappy Seatac hotel.
Traffic was down to one lane in part of Everette, before and after that I made excellent time with the cruise control always set to at least 8 miles over the speed limit. A quick stop in Marysville for McDonalds and coffee I continue on northward bound.
By the time I reach the Bellingham city limits I’m pretty tired, dangerously so. I’ve got my window open, cold air blasting me, and my stereo on repeat, playing Hurt by Johnny Cash. A cigerette in one hand, iced McDonalds coffee in the other and steering with my knees I manage to make it to mi casa.
I’m exhausted, my back is killing me and my feet are still throbbing from carrying around a heavy backpack and walking around San Francisco and Macworld 8 hrs a day for a week.
Sigh. Someone send me a hug or two.
I’m stealing this idea of a documented status from 20Something, a really great writer.
Currently Feeling: Exhausted & unloved by most of the universe.
Currently Anticipating: Hopefully some restful sleep and no dreams.
Currently Loving: My comfy bed, pillows and comforter.
Macworld Expo - Wednesday January 16, 2008
Posted by Al Castle in : Puter Stuff, gnash-teeth, OSX, Marketing, Castle, Travel, iPhone , 1 comment so farOk you’d think at the expo of one of the savviest, consumer satisfaction driven, technologically advanced computing companies of the century - wireless Internet would work. The expo is being held at the Moscone Center here in San Francisco, CA home to thousands of blockbuster movies, not a third world country. Most of the time I couldn’t get assigned a DHCP address, when addressing this issue to one of the Apple/Moscone liaisons she had no clue. I asked if there was someone else I could talk to, but apparently everyone would have referred me to her. Big help.
While outside for a smoke during the afternoon I managed to pickup a free wifi signal with good pipe and downloaded the IPhone and iTunes updates. Later as we sat inside and tried to install the iTunes update, I found out iTunes needed the Quicktime update as well. That’s when we met Nate and Nenu who work for an un-named defense contractor - too cool. Nenu had the Quicktime update, but not the iPhone update, so we searched our computers for the stashed download. Copied them to our CDW branded, 1GB flash drive, swag that we each got at registration and between the four of us managed to trade all the updates. Meeting those guys was one of the highlights of my day.
Later on the walk home, in the wrong direction, we met a group from the Griffin booth. I borrowed a light, so I could smoke from one of them and we had a good conversation until we realized our misreading of Google Maps.
This is one of the cooler updates I was waiting for. Basically the Google Maps application of the iPhone received an interface and features update. What’s really slick is a ghetto GPS that attempts to triangulate your current position within 20 meters via a company known as Skyhook. I typed in the address to our hotel and asked how to get there from my “Current Location” - too cool. I was actually on 4th St, but it gave me directions from 3rd to my hotel so still just as good. Unfortunately as anyone who knows me well, knows I can’t find my way out of a paper bag. I have zero sense of direction. My roomie I come to find out also suffers from this debilitating affliction.
Finally back at our hotel, the Internet in our room still just as bad, we head down stairs to reverse the $30 charge and get a comped wifi access code for the lobby wifi. Which at times is marginally better. We headed over to the attached cafe for some 7-Up to calm my upset tummy from either last nights seafood bonanza or todays burger and milkshake.
It took 5 minutes to just get a signal. I waited while I drank my $2.35 can of soda. I’ve got ping times to the router ranging from 100 milliseconds to 2.5 minutes. It’s not good enough to download all my email or do anything worthwhile. After waiting for far too long, I was able to load this blog posting page though.
I don’t have enough bandwidth to actually upload any photos, so those will have to wait. So many things to see, everyone peddling their wares - it’s a high-tech bazaar . Small booth stages replace soap boxes, wireless headsets and speaker systems allow their testimonials of how the end to software as we know it is over, their application/product will change everything - so each claims.
I played with the Apple Macbook Air, it’s cooler up close. Surprisingly thin, light weight, stylish and sturdy. I asked a ton of questions and played with the new features they took from the iPhone. Such as taking two fingers to stretch or squeeze a picture. You can also use three fingers as a forward or backward browser navigation, and two fingers to rotate a picture. The specs are reasonable considering they had to take into account heat from the CPU and hard drive, elimination of most of the ports, including ethernet and firewire as well as no optical drive. There’s a small area that drops down to provide USB and DVI video I believe. They still managed to squeeze in the built-in iSight though.
It comes with and is maxed out at 2GB of RAM which is half of what the Macbook Pro can handle. After searching through all of the specs and giving the Apple employee a good inquisition I realized that I’ve taken my Macbook Pro for granted. Most notebooks that are light aren’t powerful enough to be used as an actual daily workstation. Not true with the Macbook Pro, it is and has been my portable workstation. Thus the Macbook Air is a little less beefy and more sub-notebook indeed. I’m still tempted to get one…
It was at the small stations (not even a partial booth) that we found the coolest people and gear. What I first mistook for a girl hitting on me (what?! It could happen. Couldn’t it?), was actually a wily booth lady for a company called Eye-FI. They make and sell a 2GB SD memory card common to most digital cameras. What’s special about this card is it has built-in wireless capabilities. The card looks exactly the same as any other, same size, but is able (once set up) to send pictures directly from your camera (provided that it’s in range of your wireless home router) to your computer. You have the option to also have the images wireless transmitted to any number of Internet sites - Flickr, Photobucket, Facebook, Shutterfly, Costco and more. It works with Linux, Mac and Windows. Costs $99 and one sits in my room right now which I can’t wait to use.
My wireless pass is about to expire, so I’m cutting this short. I’ll try to post more tomorrow - bandwidth willing.
macworld expo quickie January 15, 2008
Posted by Al Castle in : Puter Stuff, gnash-teeth, OSX, Castle, Travel, iPhone , add a commentI’m so tired, full, and partially grumpy.
There’s new features out for the iPhone, but my hotel bandwidth, which is not free, is not wireless and appears to be a shared dial-up connection - isn’t letting me do much of anything.
On the plus side I’ve eaten incredibly well for both lunch and dinner - all the while being on quite the roll with my witty quips.
I’ll post pictures and provide juicy details once I’m infront of my Mac and have bandwidth.
This post, like my last two are via iphone.
macworld expo - flying party January 15, 2008
Posted by Al Castle in : Puter Stuff, gnash-teeth, OSX, Castle, Travel , 1 comment so farits so freaking early and cold. we’re on our way to the private plane. Coffee tastes like crap.
I might be hallucinating its so early.
Pilot called - bad fog. If we don’t take off when I get there and I got up early for no reason I’m gonna freak. As soon as I wake up again.
