Carl Hutzler’s Blog

I’ll let JS explain ;-)

Mac OS X comes with a built in ability to mac an “alias” to a file or folder which is different than a true symbolic link. By simply holding down the OPTION and APPLE/COMMAND keys at the same time and clicking on the file or folder, you can drag and create one.

Once you have this “alias” you can locate it anywhere you like. It is basically a pointer to the original file and for the most part acts as though it is the original file or folder. If you double click the alias, the original file or folder opens up just like you clicked the real item.

OK, none of this is earth shattering. But the alias capability does not work with some things. For example, EyeTV is a video recording and playback application usually called a PVR. It records shows to a default location inside your home folder. But what if you would rather have these HUGE video files recorded to another location, say on an external drive or a NAS drive. Well EyeTV does not give you an option to change the location it stores files.

But you can trick it…. Read more

So I have a Sprint phone these days (Moto V3m) and I added a Phone as Modem option to my plan which allows me to tether my laptop to the phone via USB or Bluetooth and get an Internet connection (EVDO ~400-500 kbps). All this for $40 on top of the normal voice plan. Not cheap, but not terrible.

Anyway, if I want to, my Mac Book Pro can share the internet connection established through the phone with users on the Mac’s wifi port (or wired ethernet). So I can essentially re-broadcast my EVDO internet connection to people near my Mac laptop either via the Wifi or ethernet connection. I have used this a few times in a meeting or while driving in the car (not me driving) and even on vacation once. Basically if other people need a connection, I can share mine.

And I can see using it more as my wife just got an iPod Touch with wifi built in. And Jake has one of those wifi Nintendo DS units. But to be honest, its kind of a pain to lug around a laptop to do this little function.

Tonight I stumbled upon what may be the answer, the CTR-350 by Cradlepoint. This little “Cellular Travel Router” connects to compatible phones via a USB cable and automagically makes the phone connect as a modem. Then the CTR-350 re-broadcasts the internet connection on 802.11b/g. It will even charge the phone for you which is good as the EVDO runs the battery down quickly.

So for $149 you get a drop dead simple device. Plug and play. No software, no configurations, no drivers. No nothing.

I might just buy one of these if it will work with my Moto V3m (says it will work with the VZW V3c so maybe mine will work too?).

My son’s cub scout troop visited Burke Lake this past weekend. We had a lot of fun fishing, building fires, cooking, learning to tie knots, and other such “always prepared” types of things. We even made peach cobbler in a dutch over. It was very simple to make and so amazingly good I can’t even begin to describe it to you. Yummm, butter!

I blogged about this a few weeks back but wanted to update everyone that IK did a press release on Monday announcing their service. The release has some nice information in it for all you independent artists trying to make a few bucks.

INDIEKAZOO: New Service Takes on Goliath in the MP3 World

OK, maybe this is not earth shattering news by itself, but it gets a little better.

• The music is $0.10 less per song than iTunes and the albums seem to be about $1 less than iTunes.
• The music is DRM free. No more pain in the ass restrictions on what I can do with my music
• The MP3 files are encoded at 256 kbps which should translate into very high quality listening
• Files work on just about any device that can play music as it is just a regular MP3 file.

I do not buy much of anything on iTunes mostly because I can usually find the CD for the same price at BestBuy or Target and I hate the DRM crud. No, I don’t steel or provide illegal music, but the DRM stuff is just annoying and inconvenient especially on iTunes video files. With Amazon providing high quality, DRM free, MP3 (as opposed to Apples AC3) format, for LESS money, the choice is clear for me.

The only downside I can see is that Amazon only has two major labels right now - EMI and Universal among many other smaller labels.

Note: There is a small “downloader” application which Amazon recommends installing. They have a Mac and Windows version. I don’t think you need this but it does sound convenient as it will auto add the music into iTunes for you.

A bit off topic, if you are looking for one of the best pure “rock ‘n’ roll” albums out there, spend $9 on this one and you will not be disappointed. Its one of my favorite all time albums.

Ryan Adams: Gold $8.99

I laughed out loud when I watched this. Well done!

link: Gizmodo

First there was the Jawbone headset which I tried a few weeks ago. It does a fantastic job of isolating noise in the background allowing you to hear your cell phone (or VOIP) call more clearly as well as allowing the person you are talking to to hear you clearly. You just have to try it to see how well it works. Their website has a demo that does NOT exaggerate how well the device works. Trust me, I tried one.

But the issue with the Jawbone is is it is huge and makes you look like some sort of Star trek character. So in comes the nXZEN NX6000. It is tiny at about the size of a quarter and if you believe the geeks at Gizmodo, it wins hands down. It is also about as expensive as the Jawbone at $130, but if you need noise reduction as I do in my Jeep Wrangler, then this might be the ticket.

I just saw a review of the iPod touch by Walt Mossberg and it got me to thinking a bit more why I am not quite ready to buy an iPhone or iPod Touch…

Walt Mossberg Article on iPod Touch:

“The Touch is missing some Internet-oriented features from the iPhone that would work well over Wi-Fi. It lacks the iPhone’s email, mapping, stock tracking and weather programs.

Apple says the Touch was meant mainly to present typical iPod features, not to replicate the iPhone, and it included the Web browser only so users could get onto Wi-Fi to use the mobile music store in certain places that required a log-in screen.

But it seems ridiculous to me to sell a powerful device with Wi-Fi and a huge screen, and to leave out things like an email program, even though you can use Web-based email programs. I assume Apple was concerned that the less costly Touch might compete too much with the iPhone if it had these features. In fact, if somebody can jam a voice-over-Internet capability into the iPod Touch, it might be more of a threat to the iPhone, which is tethered to a single cellphone carrier, AT&T.”

Basically, I hope someday Apple opens the iPhone/iPod Touch and allows it to become a general purpose computing device. I would be first in line to buy one.

My main frustration with cell phones and the carriers today is that they lock you into a specific set of services and applications which they want you to use. I understand why this is the case ($$), but I don’t like it. I don’t like it because these services/ applications are expensive and usually incomplete for my needs. But now Apple is doing the same thing…locking us into a single carrier for five years and locking us into a small number of applications they provide. And from the news today, it seems that Apple is now going to go after the hackers who have figured out how to unlock the iPhone and/or install 3rd party apps.

I just find it interesting to see how this great new piece of hardware and amazing UI is being crippled in specific ways which do not benefit the customer. I hope this changes over time.

So what do I do right now since I can’t do what I want on a cell phone?

Well, I do have a cell phone and it is in fact my only phone (no more land line). I never use it for anything else but voice calls…no SMS, no Pictures, no Video, no Music player, no Games, nothing. Because these things are all very expensive, incompatible with other systems I use, and in most cases the UI is horrific.

BUT I do use one feature besides voice calls! Read more