Recently in Tech Category

At the company I work for I manage a knowledge base that we populate useful tips and solutions that can be used to assist our customers so they don't have to call us. One of the things that I have had trouble with is tracking which KB articles are the most popular which could indicate an issue with a product of ours. So I sought out to find some type of service that would track site usage. The two prominent ones seem to be StatCounter and Google Analytics.

I have to say that I was impressed with the installation of both services as each one only took 2 or 3 minutes to complete. Walk through the wizard and it spits out code that you put on your site. I have to admit that it took longer to find the right file on my site to place the code than it did to generate it. Within minutes I knew one was a lot better than the other. StatCounter started to spit out useful data, which kb article was the most visited, where the requests were coming from and it was almost updated in real time. However, Google Analytics took about a day to spit out data. On top of that delay, the data was very lacking. In one day, StatCounter said I had 102 unique hits vs 4 unique hits that Google tracked.

I think it is clear which one I will be using.... I like the instant updates and the clear interface...

Finally someone has done it. Since I'm a big Picasa user for all my photos, I wanted some easy way to post to Flickr. Well check it out, works on PC and Mac.

http://picasa2flickr.sourceforge.net/index.html

Well today is a sad day...My iPod (3rd Generation from 2004) finally kicked the bucket. Well the battery part did, it still works when you have it plugged into the base, but what good does that do for me?

If I had the $499, I get the new iPod touch.... But not right now. I think I can get a replacement batter for $16 or so... One of those DIY kits.

So last year right before the Super Bowl, I treated myself to a brand new Samsung 50" Plasma. This was to replace my older Sony 27" Trinitron TV and to prepare for DirecTV's year of HD. Oh man, if you haven't seen a Hockey or Football game in HD, you have to. It's just pure bliss.

Well this year, my awesome wife surprised me by giving me my Birthday and Christmas present early. Now I had been planning on getting one next year when Gran Turismo HD comes out, but she beat me too it. I am now a proud owner of a Sony Playstation 3 80Gig (Blu-ray drive too).

Now let me get to the Eye Candy part. When you mix a HD TV, with a Blu-ray drive and a Blu-ray movie (Cars from Netflix) you will understand.

 

Today is a grand day. Microsoft officially ended support for one of the worst OSes of all time, Windows ME. For all of your that have supported your friends and family, you will agree with me on this.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/support/endofsupport.mspx

For the last 2 months I have been the proud owner of the Bose Quiet Comfort 2 Noise-Cancelling Headphones. Paired up with my Ipod and Yahoo Unlimited, these are incredible. I went from the default Ipod buds, to a pair of Etymotic 6i Isolators to the Bose and I think I have found bliss. Sure there are some studio headphones out there for some $$$, but I think I have found my happy spot.

Then came a bomb shell. My buddy sent me this. Bose Quiet Comfort 3 have been announced. DAMN! DOUBLE DAMN! The only thing that I wish mine had was the rechargable battery.

When it comes to watching TV, there are two devices that are a must in my book. Simply because they have changed the way I watch TV. The first and definitely the best device, is the DirecTV Tivo. Please note that this is an actual Tivo and not DirecTV's DVR. I have two DirecTV Tivos and one DirecTV DVR. Please do not call them the same as they are so far apart.

The second device that is a must is the Slingbox. I was fortunate to have been chosen to be one of the original Beta testers for the Slingbox. I got the first "orange" unit back in early 2005 and have loved it every since. For those that are not familiar with the Slingbox, it allows you to watch and control your TV anywhere in the world that has a broadband internet connection. Mine is connected to one of my DirecTV units so I can either watch live TV or something that I have Tivoed. As my buddy Matt has mentioned, ESPN has released the World Cup 2006 TV schedule. Guess what I will be doing during the day? Jealous?