August 25, 2008 - Reading time: 7 minutes

Disaster

I knew this would happen. Last night my Windows Mobile Smartphone suffered a serious meltdown. I tried repeatedly (and desperately!) to make it boot, but all to no avail. I tried everything from taking out the battery to yelling at it – I even thought about swinging a dead chicken over my head, but nothing helped. The device would mockingly make it to the booting logo, then freeze.

I’ve owned my MOTO Q for six months now, and this is the third meltdown that has occurred. As with the previous failures, I had to resort to a hard reset to make the dumb thing start working again. As you might suspect, a hard reset wipes out ALL the data on the device. All contacts, e-mail, and other data are gone. Poof!

Just in case you need to know, it’s easy to perform a hard reset on a MOTO Q. Heck, I’ve gotten quite good at it! While the device is off, simply hold down the middle button (between the arrows), then hold down the power button (end call). After several seconds, the hard reset prompt will appear, and your data will disappear into the mists. Read more

August 17, 2008 - Reading time: 4 minutes

Whether you love them or hate them, Microsoft is willing to pay you cold, hard cash just for using their Live.com cashback service to buy things online. The idea is that you simply use their search engine to compare products and prices, then click-through to the selected online store. When you make your purchase, you earn cashback from Microsoft. Easy as that.

Keep saving money each time you use Live Search cashback. Every time you make a qualifying purchase, we’ll send you an email to confirm your Live Search cashback savings. Usually 60 days after your purchase (although this time period may vary for some stores), and when your cashback account reaches a balance of at least $5, you can claim your cold, hard cash.

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August 12, 2008 - Reading time: 5 minutes

At long last, I have found the online storage solution of my dreams. Dropbox is a service (currently in public beta) that not only seamlessly backs up your data, but can also sync it across multiple computers. Best of all, it all happens without you having to lift a finger.

Why am I so excited about Dropbox? First of all, I classify online storage into a few different categories:

• Simple online storage (such Box.com, or the similarly-named Dropboks)
• Automated backup (such as Mozy)
• Remote Sync (such as Foldershare)

All three types of services have their uses, and Dropbox tickles my fancy (am I allowed to say that?) because it handles all three types with aplomb. To make it even better, Dropbox works on both Windows and Mac systems, and a Linux client is currently in alpha. Read more

August 9, 2008 - Reading time: ~1 minute

For anyone who has ever worked tech support, I post this video for you. And Dad, if the printer breaks again, I love you, but fix the @#$% thing yourself.

May 10, 2008 - Reading time: 4 minutes

UPDATE: who.hasfiles.com is now dead. Sad!

I recently started using who.hasfiles.com – a free, 100 MB remote file storage service. Before you start scoffing and lambasting me with insults for what seems like a pitiful amount of space, allow me to explain why I think who.hasfiles is worthwhile. While it is true that 100 MB does not go very far these days, especially when compared to some other free online storage services (such as Box.com, XDrive, and DropBoks), it is the manner in which you access files on who.hasfiles that sets it apart from the rest.

Remote Drive Mapping

Most online storage services are web based, meaning that you must access them through a browser. By contrast, who.hasfiles allows you to map your storage space as a remote drive from within your operating system. You don’t have to install anything. Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X are all supported. Read more

May 6, 2008 - Reading time: 11 minutes

This document describes how to use Sibelius to play Propellerheads Reason on a Mac

There are 4 primary things that need to happen in order to allow Sibelius to play samples from an external program (e.g. East West Gold):
1. A path (i.e. bus) between applications must be opened so that MIDI data can travel from Sibelius to the external sampler. (The “path” is known as a “bus”).
2. Send Sibelius’ MIDI data down this inter-application bus.

3. the gate must be opened in the sample program so that it can receive and play the MIDI data that has come down the bus from Sibelius.
4. Route the audio outputs of the sampler program so you can hear or record the performance. Read more