Jan
27th

Today is the 2nd Birthday of the iPad!

iPadCross-posted from the “Hand Held Hack” Blog:

So, only two years since the advent of the iPad! Wow! As ubiquitous as tablets are, who would have thought it has only been a relatively short time?!

Apple iPad: Happy 2nd Birthday

“Apple’s iPad turns two on Friday, assuming we accept the late Steve Jobs’ announcement of the iPad as the device’s date of birth rather than its April, 2010 release date.

The iPad’s gestation period was a long one. Computer pioneer Alan Kay had conceived of a tablet computer, the Dynabook, back in 1968, around the time that the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, based on Arthur C. Clark’s novel of the same name, depicted a tablet news reader.

Over the years, variations on the tablet theme appeared. Microsoft hardware partners shipped tablet PCs in 2002 and Windows-based tablets have lingered on, without much success.

Apple had a tablet of sorts in its Newton handheld device. The Newton had a ten-year run, starting in the late 1980s, but failed to achieve broad enough appeal to survive.

The iPad, however, is different. It’s hugely popular, so much so that Apple sold 15.4 million of them during the last quarter of 2011. That’s more than the number of PCs sold during that period by HP, the world’s leading PC vendor. The desktop computing era is officially over.”

Jan
26th

Geek Software of the Week: WUInstall!

So, I needed a way to automate updates on my Citrix servers from a script, so I searched for a command line utility that would simpify all this. And, hooray! There is a tool that is freeware called WUInstall! It works with or without WSUS! Cool stuff!

There is also a Pro version with additional features. However, the Free version can be used commercially, or at home!

WUInstall – Automatic Command Line Windows Updater

“WuInstall enforces Windows updates and makes the entire updating process user friendly. The basic version WuInstall 1.1. is freeware.

Basic functions

Searching for updates:

/search – lists all update which are available. It either searches on the Windows Update Server in the Internet, or, if configured, on your WSUS. It has no impact on your system at all, it just does a search and lists what was found.

Download updates:

/download – does the same search as WuInstall /search and then downloads the updates which were found. WuInstall itself does not download anything, but it triggers the Microsoft Windows Update Engine, which downloads the updates.

Install updates:

/install – searches the updates, downloads them (if they have not already been downloaded by a previous wuInstall /download command) and then installs them.

New features in version 1.1:

/reboot [nseconds] possible in combination with other parameters, reboot is done after executing WuInstall with a delay of nseconds (default: 10) seconds

/criteria “query string” – searches for updates, which match the query string. For query strings see MSDN. The default criteria is “IsInstalled=0 and Type=’Software’”.

/match “search string” – searches for updates which match the search string (no regular expressions possible so far!)”

Jan
24th

4 Billion Video Views Per Day on YouTube!

YouTubery! You know you love it! I post my video netcasts to the Ol’ YouTube! Well, YouTube is now getting 4 BILLION (with a “B”) views per DAY! Zowie!

YouTube reports 4 billion video views — a day

“People of the Internet, you love your YouTube.

On an average day, you watch 4 billion videos on YouTube. And the next day? You watch 4 billion videos on YouTube. That’s a 25% increase over the number of daily video views just eight months ago, and it shows what kind of immense numbers we can see when a popular Web destination becomes even more popular.

It’s kind of amazing — and kind of frightening.

When it comes to how much video people are uploading to the site, the numbers are also mind-boggling: YouTube reports that 60 hours of video is uploaded to the site every minute, compared with 48 hours eight months ago.

What’s behind this growth of activity? Reuters points out that parent company Google is pushing the video-sharing service beyond the personal computer, with versions of the site now compatible with smartphones and televisions. The company also has been making an effort to get more professional-grade content on the site.

Does all of this translate to money? Well, some of it does. But, Reuters reports, Google said only about 3 billion videos a week are monetized.”

Jan
22nd

Dr. Bill.TV #223 – “The Anti-SOPA, PIPA, and Other Silly Words Edition”

Netcast Show Notes:

China web users pass 500 Million, GSotW: TNTDrive, an Amazon S3 Client for Windows, Internet Blackout Day! Kindle Fire more profitable for Amazon than was thought, Kodak files for bankruptcy, a second GSotW: Flashboot! New features on DrBill.CC site! — Sponsor: MozyPro Online Backup: Simple, Automatic & Secure Backup – Code word = PODCAST15 saves you 15% – http://bit.ly/mozypod1 — Sponsor: GoToMeeting Conferencing with HD Faces: Simple Online Collaboration – http://bit.ly/xp4FFv

Links that pertain to this Netcast:

TechPodcasts Network

Blubrry Network

Amazon

Dropbox

TNTDrive

Flashboot


Start the Video Netcast in the Blubrry Video Player above by
clicking on the “Play” Button in the center of the screen.

(Click on the buttons below to Stream the Netcast in your “format of choice”)
Streaming FLV Video
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Available on YouTube at: http://youtu.be/rH6jNkyEL50

Available on Vimeo at: http://vimeo.com/35510098

Available on sevenload at: http://en.sevenload.com/videos/bMncyve-Dr-Bill-TV-223-The-Anti-SOPA-PIPA-and-Other-Silly-Words-Edition


Jan
21st

Dr. Bill.CC (This Web Site) – New Features!

Yes, I am trumpeting some new features on my own web site. My Dad always said, “He that tooteth not his own horn, his horn remaineth untooted!” (And, yes, he was as odd as I am!) Anyway, here’s a rundown of new stuff on the ol’ web site!

1) We now have an HTML5/WebM video in the upper right column corner with the latest (that is, last produced) netcast!

2) We have added the “Sociable Plug-in” to allow you to easily share our posts to the Interwebs! (Share and Enjoy!)

3) Under the aforementioned HTML5/WebM screen, we now have shortcuts to the URLs for subscribing the the show, so you never miss an episode!

4) For our European friends, we added Sevenload to the list of social video sharing sites the show is posted to.

5) Click on, and sign up for, “Dr. Bill’s Newsletter” in the sidebar to get our weekly newsletter! (OK, that one is not new, but you should still sign up!)

Jan
19th

Geek Software of the Week: Flashboot!

FlashbootSo… there was no GSotW last week, so, we have two this week! How’s that!?! This is a good one! I use it all the time. It is a purchased product rather than free, but it is really nice and very convenient!

Flashboot – Create Bootable USB Media!

“FlashBoot is a tool to make USB storage devices bootable. FlashBoot supports USB thumbdrives and USB HDDs. FlashBoot partitions, formats USB storage device and then automatically installs operating system files to it. Supported operating systems: Windows 7/Vista, Windows XP, SysLinux-based disks, GRUB4DOS disks, Linux kernel etc.

You may create blank bootable USB flash with minimal set of system files and then manually tune it for your needs, or convert a full-featured bootable CD-ROM or floppy disk to bootable USB Flash keeping all functionality.

Most popular FlashBoot feature is a convertion of Windows installation CD/DVD into bootable USB disk to install Windows XP from USB or to install Windows 7 or Vista from USB on netbooks and other devices without CD/DVD drive.

FlashBoot is a tool with rich feature list:

  • Convert Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 installation CD/DVD disc to bootable USB disk (to install Windows on netbooks and other computers without CD/DVD drive)
  • Create USB disk to reset password for any user of Windows XP/Vista/7
  • Extract Windows XP recovery console from Windows XP installation CD to bootable USB disk
  • Convert BartPE bootable CD to bootable USB disk
  • Convert IsoLinux, SysLinux, GRUB4DOS and DOS bootable CDs/DVDs/floppy disks to bootable USB disks
  • Duplicate USB disks

You get all the features “in one box” if you use FlashBoot.

FlashBoot can either format physical disk or write an image file. So you may create customized USB disk manually or with another tool and use FlashBoot to create image out of it and redistribute it in local network or online.

Jan
19th

The Day… the Film Died.

Kodak Film(Read the title above to the tune of “American Pie” by John McClean.)

It is a sad day. I was my High School’s Newspaper and Yearbook Photographer. I shot sporting events, pushed my film speed to ASA 4000 by using unorthodox film developer practices so I could take night-time action shots, and generally LOVED Kodak film! (Though my favorite color slide film was Fuji!) I even ended up with a BFA in Painting, Printmaking and Photography from UNC-G. Anyway, film is going he way of the buggy-whip, so I shed a tear of reminiscence over Kodak’s demise.

Not a Kodak Moment: Legendary Camera Maker Files for Bankruptcy Protection

“Struggling camera maker Kodak said on Wednesday night that it has filed for Chapter 11 reorganization.

The move, which had been expected, follows years of struggle by the film giant to transition to a digital imaging company. In recent months, the company has sought to capitalize on its patents and, in recent days, has sued Apple, HTC and Samsung.

Kodak said it hopes to emerge from bankruptcy in 2013 and intends to conduct business during the restructuring using $950 million in financing from Citigroup. As part of the move, the company said it has named Dominic DiNapoli, vice chairman of FTI Consulting, as its Chief Restructuring Officer.”

Jan
19th

Kindle Fire Profitable for Amazon!

Cross-posted from the Hand Held Hack:

As you know, my Kindle Fire is my favorite new tech toy… and we had a report not long ago that Amazon was selling them at a price lower than it costs to make them. But this report seems to indicate that, as we predicted, they are doing fine on sales and profits!

Kindle Fire Could Be More Profitable Than Expected

Amazon’s Kindle Fire, released in November, may wind up being more profitable than was expected, thanks to users’ penchant for purchasing digital goods, according to a new research report from RBC Capital.

Though Amazon actually eats a loss of an estimated $18 for every Kindle sold due to manufacturing costs and other factors, the company makes up for it through sales of ebooks and apps, according to the report. Based on survey of 216 Kindle Fire Owners, RBC analysts estimated that over the course of three years, each Kindle Fire sold could earn Amazon $136.

‘Amazon will break even on a Kindle Fire unit in less than five months, accounting only for direct digital good purchases,’ the report states.

Amazon makes the most money off the Kindle Fire from sales of ebooks, according to the report. RBC estimated that each Kindle Fire owner purchases five ebooks per quarter, generating Amazon roughly $15 per user each quarter. In RBC’s survey, just 19 percent of respondents had not purchased an ebook for their device, while 29 percent purchased three to five and more than 28 percent bought more than six.

Kindle Fire owners also purchase three paid apps on average, per quarter, RBC estimated. In the survey, 66 percent of respondents said they had purchased at least one paid app for their device, while 34 percent had not.
Besides digital content, the Kindle Fire could also generate revenue through sales of physical goods and memberships to Amazon Prime, the company’s ‘preferred’ tier that gives customers free unlimited two-day shipping.”

Jan
18th

Today is Internet Blackout Day!

STOP SOPA AND PIPA!

Jan
16th

Geek Software of the Week: TNTDrive!

TNTDriveNow you can map your Amazon S3 Cloud Service as though it were a “local” Windows drive. You can download the 32-bit or 64-bit version. Pretty cool if you are using the S3 service from Amazon!

TNTDrive – Bringing the Cloud Closer

“TntDrive is a new Amazon S3 Client for Windows. With TntDrive you can easily mount Amazon S3 Bucket as a Windows Drive.

Unlike many other Amazon S3 Clients, TntDrive offers incredible simplicity of accessing your Amazon S3 Buckets and files.

You can work with your Amazon S3 files as easily as if they were on your local drive!”


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