App Review – Splashtop for the iPad

Splashtop is a remote control, think VNC, utility for PCs and Macs. It doesnt use VNC or Remote Desktop. You goto there website and download a streaming utility for your desktop. Once installed you can start the utility on your desktop and set some pretty standard settings. I didnt need any manual for this.

On your iPad you start up Splashtop and either browse the local network for your computer or enter the details manually. Once connected to your computer you can remote control the screen with thetouch screen. For exmple, I remotely connect my AppleTV to my itunes library on my desktop. If itunes is not open then I don’t get my movies. By using Splashtop I can remote control my desktop to startup iTunes without having to go downstairs.

I decided to play a movie on my desktop to see how it streamed. Both the video and soundncame through on my iPad just fine. No lagging or stuttering. This is hands down the best performance I’ve seen and it’s over my WiFi.

The future of the Mac Mini Server

Earlier this year I purchased a Mac Mini Server with Snow Leopard Server. I did this so I could set up shared calendars with my family, facilitate wireless Time Machine Backups, host a local update repository, and enable remote services for our iPads, iPhones, and Laptops. So far this has worked well. The big steal in the buy was getting the server software, which on its own would have cost $500. For $950 I got a little server with raided hard drives and the OS.

At last weeks WWDC, Apple announced that Lion would be made available for $29.99 and that users could purchase Lion Server for $79.99. or was that $89.99? It doesn’t matter, all I know is that it was priced very low. If I would have known this I would have forgone the Mini Server and simply bought the software for the White Core 2 iMac I have sitting around as a spare.

Hind sight being 20/20, I think the success of Mini Server drove the reduction of the OS X Server software. I believe that Apple found that by making a server based machine available to the masses, it showed that there was a market for small businesses and home based techies. But now with the introduction of the iCloud I find myself wondering where it is really going. Many of the reasons why I purchased the Mini Server will be satisfied by iCloud. The Time Machine backups would have to addressed by either Time Capsule or and Airport Base Station with an external HD.

Is the Mini Server dead? Probably not yet, there are enough propeller heads out there to drive the need. But I think the writing is on the wall and eventually it will be killed off. In the end I’m still happy I purchased my server. It gave me a chance to solve some technical needs and play around a bit on OS X administration side. I’m looking forward to see how things pan out. I look forward to hearing other people’s thoughts on this.

Food Review – Epic Burger = Epic Fail

It doesn’t matter what you include or exclude with your burger.  $13.19 for a burger, fries, and malt is nothing but highway robbery.  At that price the burger better jump around in my mouth and play tonsil hockey.  Let me get the good stuff out of the way first and then on to the bad stuff.
 
Good
==================================
It is a good burger.  Not the best, not fantastic, but a good burger.  I would stack up a Duke’s in Crystal Lake, IL or a Claim Company burger in Northbrook, IL.
 
Yes, the food does not contain all those bad things like Trans Fats, preservatives, nitrates, etc.
 
It’s a very hip looking place.
 
Bad
==================================
There is nothing that is of that much importance to justify $13.19 for a burger, fries, shake meal deal.  Nothing.  Now I personally have bought my own aged, angus, New York strip from Whole Foods for $25.00/lb and ground my own burger.  If that’s what they are doing then I have to ask why are you doing it for a lunch crowd?
 
The website marvels at the quality of the fries.  I work two buildings down and the fries were mush.  Worse off was the fact that over half the order was made up 1/2″ pieces.  As for their Rule #4, don’t insult the French with this mess.
 
I can understand giving the number stands and number to people who are eating in but what is up with making the to-go people stand around looking like clowns with them?
 
I placed my order and stood over to the side waiting for my order.  It wasn’t a long wait but after about 5-6 minutes a nice dressed gentleman saw I was number #27 and came over and gave me burger and then took my funny looking number on stick thing.  But what he didn’t realize is the poor lady behind the shake counter now has no way to identify for my shake that took 7-8 minutes to get.
 
Now someone who planned this restaurant decided that having a smoothie/shake bar to handle the drinks would be a great idea.  Then they proceeded to make it cramped for two people crossing over each other.  Then to make things even better decided to install only (2) blending machines.  Hello, McFly!  That’s why it takes almost 8 minutes to get a drink and the burgers come out quicker.  That’s just plain and simple lopsided thinking.
 
Suggestions
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1) Don’t charge $0.89 cents for the cheese.

2) Fix you smoothie/shake station: give them some room to work and get them some more blenders.

3) Get rid of the number sticks for to go people, that’s just dorky and dumb

4) Fix your overall pricing.  It’s an anchor and you will sink with it.
 
Overall
==================================
First, I will not go back there just because of the price.  Al’s Beef, which is around the corner, will kill your fries everyday of the week.  Second, because of the price I would rather go Kent College or Gold Coast Dogs for a burger.  Big prices and nothing to back it up.  I did get some fancy black label Heinz to go Ketchups; talk about focusing on the wrong details.
 
My bet is that come June 2012 there will be a for sale sign there or a new restaurant.

Receipt Breakdown
===================================
Vanilla Malt – 3.89
Fries 2 – 1.99
Epic burger – 5.99
Cheddar Ch. – 0.89
Sub Total: – 12.76
Meal Disc. – .88 (basically a free slice of cheese!
Tax. – 1.31
TOTAL – 13.19 <--- WOW!!!!

Apple’s App Store vs. ???

This past week I read about Amazon’s entry into the application download space for the Mac.  The question that rang through my head is whether they can do it right.  From what I read there were already things that it can’t do and in some instances you have to download and install the application itself.  While I can do that I find myself bothered by it.  I don’t want to have multiple places to manage what I purchase online.  As it sits right now I hate having to launch Steam and work with some apps there.  In the end, I want one place to go and for it to take care of it all.  This is what I like about Apple and it’s what I expect.  I want the same experience that  have on my iPad and iPhone.

Game Review – Glow Hockey HD for the iPad

Glow Hockey is an air hockey game for the iPad that has a vibrant, glow based design. Not to much to explain the mechanics, it’s air hockey. I’ve played it for 10 minutes and I have a serious problem with the single player AI. There are four levels that range from Easy, to Medium, to Hard, and to Insane. I started out on Hard and I was able to sit in front of my goal, essentially doing nothing and the computer scored on itself 7 times while only getting past me once. So there is some serious fixing needed for the AI.

Fortunately I bought this for the two player WiFi/Bluetooth mode to play against my daughter. If you are looking at this as a solo game, you might want to look elsewhere. I just got back from playing head-to-head with my 4yr old and it was great. It’s hard to find game that they can understand how to play and fun at this age. She is getting very good at Arkanoid but was amazed at how I was controlling half of his game from my iPad.

So a bit of a thumbs down on the AI but thumbs up on the head-to-head!

Video Review – Gamifcation Master Class with Gabe Zichermann

Gabe is an excellent speaker and he knows his stuff.  He uses solid, real world examples to communicate and even after the first 30 minutes I found myself still ready to click on to watch the next segment.  The power of understanding and embodying gamication really equates to building a solid group of core customers (players) that are loyal to your product.  I find it ironic that I’m watching and writing a review for this for O’Reilly and many of the reasons that I participate on O’Reilly is touched on in this video.  I’m an O’Reilly blogger because it gives me access to materials.  I answer and participate on O’Reilly Answer in part because of status (badges).

What I really like about this is that Gabe has taken and interesting subject and now presents it in a way that allows you to digest easily and more quickly.  If you are interested in this topic then it’s worth the time watch this video course.

Book Review – App Savvy by Ken Yarmosh

I have collected a number of books and articles related to App development for the iOS platform. I chose to look at and review this book because it was the first one I ran across that doesn’t simply focus on app development. App Savvy looks to help you plan and execute your development efforts.

It starts out by focusing on the planning and strategy part of development. It shows you how to leverage tools, like the App Store, to identify what applications exist, what is needed, and what customers are saying. It helps you to focus your application so it addresses what customers are looking for. The book continues on to help you look at assembling a development team to execute your project.

Throughout the book there are interviews with real application owners and how they were successful with their applications. I like the approach of hearing from others, especially when it comes to business processes. These interviews demonstrate how strategies actually were implemented. So if you are looking for a book to help you turn an idea into reality then take a look at this one.

Review – Mondo Solitaire from Ambrosia Software

112 Solitaire variations in this one app!  Add to that a clean and simple interface and you can spend a lot of time in this app.  Ambrosia has a long history of making fun and exciting games for the Mac and this one is another example of their great work.

When you go to choose a new solitaire game you can scroll down through the 112 games sorted by name, popularity, decks, length of play, and winning record.  If you are feeling frisky you can simply hit a “Surprise me!” button to randomly pick a game.  One thing at I really like is that you get a snapshot of each game as you click on it.  You can see what the game will look like, a summary of how to play, and all the basic stats.  I think this makes it easier for someone to venture off and play games they never new about.

You will also see that it’s not one simple background/patter for all games.  Ambrosia took the time decorate each game and make it feel like your are getting 112 games in 1, not 1 game multiplied 112 different ways.  All in all I think this is a great value for $9.99 off of the App Store and something you should keep on your desktop/laptop to pass the time when needed.

Think outside the box, as long as you stay in the box

Sometimes I think the general direction that is faced in corporations can be summed up by trying to think outside of the box while staying inside the box.  Look but don’t touch.  Smell but don’t eat.  It’s akin to planting a seed and refusing to give it water and convincing it that it can live on air alone.

What’s the big deal with .XXX?

Today it was announced that ICANN approved the creation of .xxx as a top level domain.  This domain will be used for adult websites.  Some general points about this top level domain are:

  1. The registration will be $60.00 per year.
  2. .XXX will only be for adult websites.
  3. Adult websites with .com based names will have first dibs to their .xxx (so Playboy.com will be able to get Playboy.xxx)

There is a lot of chatter about this approval and various groups, including those in the adult entertainment industry, that disapprove of this.  I really haven’t thought about this much but I started to think about it today.  After about 15 minutes I found myself, to my own surprise, not very happy with approval.  So why is this .xxx top level domain so bad?

  1. What actually constitutes an adult site?  Sex video?  Sex photos?  Nude photos?  Scantily clad photos?  Explicit discussions?  Implicit discussion?  Exposed breast?  We as a country cannot even agree upon what qualifies as broadband but we think we can define this?  Give me a break.
  2. The creation of a roped off section on the Internet is just asking for the other shoe to drop.  Today we say that adult sites can use this.  Tomorrow, figuratively speaking, some bone head politician is going to introduce some bill to force adult sites into this caged off area.  A business, even a porn business, has the right to conduct its business on the Internet where ever it pleases.

So no, I’m not for this at all.  It’s not that I’m pro-porn, I’m for an open and free Internet.