Disqus - Latest Comments for KevinCTofel

Re: I got a DROID (Scripting News)

KevinCTofel — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:57:21 -0000

Dave, take a look at DoubleTwist.com for music transfers. Works with nearly any phone, except those that start with "i". ;)

Re: Toshiba Mini NB205-N330 review

bradlinder — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:26:11 -0000

Oh, and FYI my 7:09 battery test result was from leaving the computer on
non-stop with light web browsing, some image editing, and you know, the
stuff you do when you're blogging. I think I watched one YouTube video for
about 2 minutes.

Re: Toshiba Mini NB205-N330 review

bradlinder — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:24:43 -0000

That's interesting. I think there were actually a couple of other apps that
I didn't bother mentioning. I'll see if I can get you a complete list before
I return the laptop.

Re: Toshiba Mini NB205-N330 review

KevinCTofel — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:29:27 -0000

Nice review Brad. I'm re-running my battery tests using the Battery Eater Reader mode, which essentially leaves the machine pretty idle. I used fairly aggressive power management settings. More to follow because I only ran the test on Windows 7 -- the battery died after just over 10 hours with basically no load. I'll do the same with XP tomorrow and see how it fares.

Also of note: even with Windows 7 and the latest available Toshiba software installed, I've never seen the Toshiba-specific software your newer model has. I wonder why they haven't made it available to older devices that were upgraded to Windows 7? Hmm....

Re: Twitter feeds stray puppies (Scripting News)

dave — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:02:51 -0000

Thanks for the info Kevin -- roaming is not turned on on the Sprint, and you
need some kind of password to turn it on and I don't have it. I would have
been happy to roam into Verizon's service. What does it do if Sprint has
some coverage but is just really slow and intermittent. I have a feeling it
doesn't roam then. That's what was happening at the hotel. I paid $13 for
their Internet access and that was super fast. If I'm going to keep paying
for hotel service, why am I paying SPrint $60 a month for this shit service.
That's what gets me. Last night at LAX was the ultimate. All these people
all around me were online with Verizon or T-Mobile. I'm supposed to be some
kind of Internet developer, but I was stuck watching Chinatown (great movie,
but I've seen it before).

Re: Twitter feeds stray puppies (Scripting News)

pxlated — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:46:44 -0000

Is Verizon better? - Well, you can't go by their coverage maps. There are many locations I travel that have absolutely no coverage or signal even though the Verizon people say they do. And, I swear Verizon EVDO rides on sunbeams - If it's bright/sunny there is great, reliable connection. If it's overcast, rainy or snow it all goes to hell in a handbasket, can't get a reliable connection to save my soul.
So, as usual with all cell providers, it all depends and is specific to exact locations.

Re: Twitter feeds stray puppies (Scripting News)

KevinCTofel — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:48:42 -0000

Verizon is arguably the best in terms of coverage, although I'm surprised your Sprint MiFi had problems - when there's no Sprint signal, it should roam on Verizon's network. Then again, I had to turn on data roaming with my Sprint Palm Pre to take advantage of that. There was a firmware update for the MiFi's earlier this week (http://jkontherun.com/2009/10/26/mifi-gets-firm...) so maybe that's the issue?

Regardless, if you're thinking of ditching both devices (iPhone and MiFi), the new Verizon Droid announced today should be on the radar. There are 3G tethering apps (although you may have to root the phone) and Android 2.0 looks stunning in terms of features and UI enhancments. Plus -- not sure if this adds value to you or not -- the new free Google Maps Navigation on Android 2.0 just trumped any other nav system by leveraging real time Google Search, street view and more. My $0.02. :)

Re: Do you have a cloud-enabled feed? (Scripting News)

KevinCTofel — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:25:42 -0000

We're proud in the RSSCloud at jkOnTheRun! http://feeds.Feedburner.com/jkontherun

Re: Title of podcast goes here.

KevinCTofel — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:28:12 -0000

Looking forward to the new podcast. Since I'm an East Coaster, I'll likely have to catch it recorded, so NO editing if you muff anything! ;) Wishing you both the best on this...

Re: Older people get to me too (Scripting News)

KevinCTofel — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:37:36 -0000

Thanks for sharing this insightful thought, Dave. Especially timely for me personally and gave me pause to enjoy some fond memories of my father.

Re: Poet's Guides (Scripting News)

KevinCTofel — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 09:22:51 -0000

I know you want to understand how such a beast would work (and I can appreciate that!), but an application called Calibre might be worth a look. I gave it a once-over earlier this week on our site as I was waiting for my Kindle 2 to arrive, which it did yesterday. Calibre is a cross-platform e-book library management system and can also re-format content. More importantly to one of your points above: it can fetch from websites or feeds on your computer, and you can then sync that fetched content over to the Kindle. That bypasses Amazon for the site or feed. Might be worth a look. I haven't had a chance to try it for pulling web content onto my Kindle 2 yet.

Re: Poor man's email? (Scripting News)

KevinCTofel — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:38:24 -0000

I'm starting to use Twitter for logging and tracking my exercise. When I go for a run or ride, I tweet the info with a #kct-log tag for search purposes. I'm also hoping the "one to many" effect helps motivate others to get a little excercise as well ;)

Re: Source: Intel prepping for mass roll-out of Android netbooks

KevinCTofel — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 07:07:44 -0000

After using a netbook since the original Eee PC 701, I gave the whole Android on a netbook thing some thought. Yup, we know the platform can be ported to X86, but I'm in agreement with Charbax: it's ideal for ARM. Just before Christmas I justified why: http://gigaom.com/2008/12/23/a-netbook-with-and...

ARM over Intel gains power efficiency, and in some cases (like with Qualcomm) stronger connectivity options. Bear in mind that Intel is already backing the Moblin Project, focusing on mobile Linux for netbooks and MIDs. They were targeting this for MIDs first and then netbooks, but earlier this month, the swapped priorities. Moblin for MIDs is pushed to 2010 while Moblin for Netbooks is in alpha now. It's bare-bones as you can see by my five minute video look: http://jkontherun.com/2009/01/29/mobile-tech-mi...

Re: New policy on interviews (Scripting News)

KevinCTofel — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:43:53 -0000

I still like the idea of an interview wiki. Both sides get to massage their words to ensure nothing is taken out of context.

Re: Asus and Phoenix ink deal for Hyperspace on laptops - mediabistro.com: MobileDevicesToday

KevinCTofel — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:28:10 -0000

I circled back to the Phoenix Technologies PR folks after the news hit and I updated my post yesterday afternoon. Customers will still pick up the annual subscription tab at the full $39.95 or $59.95 price, depending on the version (Dual or Hybrid). I'm still of the opinion that this will never gain traction, based on the business model.

Re: Leaving Las Vegas

bradlinder — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 01:20:05 -0000

It was great to see you and James together in person for once!

And I have to say, covering a show the size of CES without a voice is
an odd experience. I think I've learned a lot about being a better
listener. :)

Re: I’ve gone Netbook

atmasphere — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:46:17 -0000

Great to be in the club finally! Loving it actually ...

I am still very interested in the pocketable experience though frankly have yet to see anything with the balance of power and features that the N810 offers for it's size. I would love to have a cellular data connection internally and hope we'll see that when the Maemo 5 release happens later in the year. The smaller size of the netbook is killer for more productive use, but I don't really want to make much of a sacrifice when I'm out with an even lighter option.

Re: Leaving Las Vegas

KevinCTofel — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 16:32:55 -0000

Glad you made the show Brad! :)

Re: I’ve gone Netbook

KevinCTofel — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 00:04:12 -0000

Very interested in your thoughts on the netbook experience as opposed to a pocketable Internet Tablet. Pros and cons to each of course... Welcome to the "Netbook Club"! :)

Re: Palm Pre a possibility? (Scripting News)

KevinCTofel — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:16:26 -0000

Dave, it's way too early to get answers to some of your excellent questions, unfortunately. ;( I spoke with a developer who works on the Palm Pre browser and they still have work to do on the phone and the OS. And with no pricing or news out of Sprint yet, they're not going to get into the details of the voice/data plan (assuming they would be any different from today's offerings).

I suspect that since they went with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create apps for the phone, it should be relatively open, but that's just a guess on my part. No word on when you can get your hands on one; we barely got to touch it! Palm says sometime in the first half of the year for availability.

Re: Friends Of Dave (Scripting News)

KevinCTofel — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:13:15 -0000

Dave, thanks for the comment. One of the nicest things I've heard said on our behalf in a while and it tells us that we're heading in the right direction for our readers. :)

Re: Hey, look what happened this weekend!

KevinCTofel — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 09:54:54 -0000

Congrats on 2m visitors in such a short time, Brad! It's been fun to watch Liliputing grow and we'll catch you at CES. :)

Re: Dear AT&T - Why is a modem locked??

atmasphere — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 21:28:51 -0000

No Worries - I can't believe it's locked. There's no reason for that other than corporate greed

Re: Dear AT&T - Why is a modem locked??

KevinCTofel — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 21:22:19 -0000

Hi Jonathan, I saw that you had some questions / comments on my original post. Unfortunately, I got tied up until after you answered most of your own questions. I'm surprised that the modem is locked to a carrier, considering all of the frequency bands that it supports. Hmm.... I wonder if that's why the Icera Livanto chipset was used since it's so versatile via firmware updates.

Re: What is a netbook? (Scripting News)

spyguy — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:56:17 -0000

It will take quite a while for "Quebec" to actually hit the market (Win 7 is still along way off, no matter the MS hype) and even longer for Win XP embedded to disappear because of the lead times in the embedded market. As for the differences between the embedded version of Win XP and the commercial version of Win XP, there are none, except the system makers can choose to not implement some parts of embedded win XP, although in this case the system folks have chosen to implement the full OS. Basically it is a marketing subterfuge to allow the embedded systems folks the ability to use win XP and deny win XP to the commercial market. While the bits are exactly the same, MS just has many (many, many) different licenses and contracts designed to compartmentalize different products to different customer segments.

Intel has done the same thing. 486 processors were available to the embedded systems folks long after they were denied to the commercial system folks. Since it doesn't cost very much to keep a product around and milk it for more revenue, as long as their main market is"protected," there is no reason to kill a product that is bringing in "extra" money.

That being said, Atom is a new chip that was originally designed for the embedded market (cell phones and the like) and I suspect that Intel has mixed feeling about netbooks because while they are a nice revenue stream, they cannibalize sales from the much higher margin laptop business. Remember that while development costs for chips is very high, the actual daily production cost per chip is very low (approaching zero in some cases). Given that, which would you rather sell, a Core-duo for big bucks or a an Atom for a lot less, given that the production costs for both is similar?

Windows CE, Windows XP, Linux and MacOS are among the most popular operating systems in the embedded market these days, which means ont he OS side, the only real difference between the commercial market and the embedded market is just marketing spin. These days, for most embedded systems, there is no difference between commercial and embedded operating systems

The CPU makers differentiate between the commercial market and the embedded market a little more definitively. While Intel and Amd are the only commercial CPU vendors, there are lots of embedded CPU vendors in addition to Intel and AMD. Traditionally, the embedded CPU market was concerned more with cost than performance, so embedded CPUs tended to be commercial CPUs rebranded after their commercial life (8041, 486, etc). Recently though, several companies have designed CPUs specifically for the embedded market and the Intel Atom is one of these.

The bottom line is that for all practical purposes the commercial and embedded markets are the same from a technical perspective, but "different" from a licensing/marketing perspective.

So if an "embedded" design can be used to satisfy a "commercial" market need, so be it. The only "losers" will be the component vendors (MS and Intel in the case of netbooks) who will make less profit.