For a little over two weeks I’ve been using a Pulse Smart Pen for my personal and professional notes.  (I haven’t been a student in a few years so my review is going to be geared for those in the business world.  But, since meetings are similar to college classes, I think my review will hold true for students as well.) Thus far I’m more impressed than I expected to be.  The microphone is phenomenal, the OCR engine works rather well and it didn’t take too long for the pen to feel normal in my hand.

By the way, I’m left-handed.  So if anyone is concerned that the Pulse is yet another righthand-centric device, let me allay your fears - it works for us in our right minds just as well.

Pen Size

Admit it, when it comes to pens, size matters.  In my case, I’ve always been a fan of the Pilot G2 which is a slim pen that fits comfortably in my hand.  I’ve been using G2’s for about 10 years now and I never thought I could give them up.  When I opened my Pulse’s package I was taken back by the size, at first glance the pen seems humongous, and, at first touch, it feels weighty.  Humongous and weighty are two adjectives that I don’t like to hear when it comes to a writing instrument, but the I still had to give the Pulse a chance.  I’m really glad I did.  In no time at all I was used to the feel of the pen in my hand and even after a week of marathon meetings my hand wasn’t aching.

The OCR Engine

The OCR engine included with the Pulse caught me off guard.  I’ve been following this technology since the mid 90’s and have been rather unimpressed as it has never lived up to its hype.  LiveScribe has renewed my faith in OCR.  The OCR engine included with the Pulse is not perfect, but it works really well.  I feel comfortable saying this given that it can read almost everything that I write - whether I take my time to write neatly, or if I write quickly during a fast paced meeting.

The Microphone

The microphone is one feature that I haven’t had a chance to use fully.  Due to the nature of my work, I’m not allowed to record all of my meetings.  Thankfully I did have a chance to record one of them and the microphone performed very well.

The meeting where I had a chance to use the microphone involved an impromptu conference room and it included ten attendees.  The microphone performed really well, clearly recording the people at the other side of the room with the same clarity it recorded the voices of the people that were seated next to me.

The Bad

The Pulse Smartpen is not without it’s flaws.  The paragraphs below go into detail about the things I found.

OCR Engine

I mentioned the OCR problems earlier, but such problems are to be expected.  Being a software engineer myself, I understand how difficult OCR software is write.  But I do want to go into more detail about what I experienced.

When I take notes, I tend to “tag” them in the margin.  These tags consist of an acronym surrounded by a circle.  Unfortunately, LiveScribe Desktop seems to have difficulty with these tags.  It does find some of them but their recognition isn’t reliable enough for my needs.

I’m also having trouble getting the OCR engine to recognize numbers the way I write them.  My handwriting isn’t perfect, but LiveScribe Desktop seems to parse most of the text I write while it has a hard time with numbers.

Software

The pen does not come with a software CD.  This annoyed me since the installation file for Windows is ~50MB, and even with a fast cable connection the download still took ~10 minutes.  Having to download the software does guarantee that I’m using the latest and greatest version, but it is also another step between unpacking the pen and being able to use it.

After I installed the software and setup my Pulse, I was required to update the software on the pen.  This part was torturous.  Not only was it yet another step I was required to perform before I could the Pulse, it was horrifically slow.  (Yes I was using a USB 2.0 port.)

Things I Haven’t Tried

Due to my schedule there are some things I haven’t tried.  For instance, I use a Mac for my side-business and for personal things and I use Windows for work.  Unfortunately I did not have time install the Mac version of the LiveScribe Desktop.

Related to the fact that I have two computers is that Livescribe does not recommend using the Pulse with two different computers.  I haven’t tried this, so I don’t know the exact issues.  My theory is that it would cause the notebook pages to be out of sync - pages 1-5 on computer A and 5-10 on computer B.  That’s even if you’re allowed to associate the pen with two different computers.  My recommendation to Livescribe would be to allow for some kind of syncing.

Wrap-Up

The Pulse Smart Pen is a wonderful device.  It does have its problems, but I wouldn’t give mine up.  It saves me a lot of time (I used to scan and then run my notes through OCR software).  If you’re thinking of getting one, do it now.  I’m pretty sure you won’t be dissappointed.

Note - If anyone is interested in seeing samples of the notes I’ve taken, please post a comment and I’ll post the images.

The Storm first arrived at 10am this morning and I’ve been playing with it ever since.  My first impression is that the device is named incorrectly, it should be called the Blackberry Flurry.

I’ve been following the Storm since early 2008 when information about it was first leaked.  During the months between the initial leaks and its actual release I read every little piece of information - pictures, features, specs, etc.  I was truly excited to get this phone.

I liken my experience to a child going to bed on Christmas Eve hoping to wake up to a ton of presents and winter wonderland outside of his window.  The Storm does provide a ton of a new presents, in the form of new features, but no winter wonderland.  To better explain my analogy, let me start from the Storm’s release date.

The phone was officially released on November 21, 2008 and it immediately sold out.  I ordered mine directly from Verizon at 1pm that day, even after reading all of the horrible reviews.  The Storm didn’t arrive until a week later even though I had it shipped FedEx Next Day.  (To be fair, the shipping problem wasn’t RIM’s fault, but Verizon’s.)

This morning the phone arrived.  Before I activated it, I decided to run a few tests: type a few fake emails, navigate around the menus and the applications, etc.

Typing on the keyboard feels strange.  My first experience with PDA’s and smart phone’s began with a Handspring Visor back in 1999, so I have a deep-rooted sense of how a touch screen should work.  The Storm’s screen doesn’t fit that idea.  Simply placing your finger on a button or an icon will highlight it, you actually have to press down on the screen in order to activate the button or icon.  The press isn’t a big deal, it requires the same amount of effort as a mouse click.  But it will take some getting used to.

The strangeness of the keyboard led me to make a ton of mistakes.  One mistake caused me to send an email to client well before it was ready to be sent.  Thankfully the client had a sense of humor and the email didn’t contain any “gaystack“-type mistakes.  I could only imagine what could happen…

The menu system and general navigation is just slow, painfully slow.  One example is attempting to make a telephone call.  I placed my Blackberry Pearl 8130 next to the Storm then I clicked the “Phone” button on each device.  The Pearl’s phone keypad displayed noticeably quicker than the Storm’s.  Very disappointing.

The accelerometer is also slow.  The commercials lead one to believe that the screen’s orientation changes quite quickly, unfortunately that’s just advertising voodoo.  In real world use, it’s painfully slow.  So slow in fact that it actually caused me to press the wrong button a few times because I didn’t know if the orientation change didn’t register or it was just taking a while.

In order to take advantage of the accelerometer, applications must be updated.  While it seems that the applications packaged with the Storm do support the accelerometer, some of the other 3rd party applications do not.  Twitterberry (an otherwise great Blackberry Twitter client) doesn’t work well as it could, but todoMatrix seems to work just fine (but they released a Storm-compatible beta), and WorldMate Live (a favorite travel-related application of mine) just doesn’t work.

Another thing I noticed while playing with the Storm is its weight.  Normally, I don’t take weight into account when comparing devices unfortunately the difference is noticeable when it comes to the Storm. The Pearl weighs in at 3.4oz, the Curve about 4.2oz and the Storm weighs 5.5oz.  Not a big difference, just a few ounces but, in your hand, it feels immense.  My hand actually gets tired after typing a long email.  I’m not sure what the difference is.

One thing the phone does have going for it looks.  Right now the phone is sitting on my desk and it looks very stylish.  The screen is crisp and the colors are brilliant.  Videos playing on the phone are wonderful.  No lag, no slow downs and no shadowing, even when playing action movies.

The phone also comes with 1GB on-board memory and Verizon is shipping it with 8GB microSD card.  The extra 8GB of space was something Verizon definitely got right.  I’ve never purchased another device that came with so much extra memory.

The Storm is also a worldphone and Verizon will send you a SIM card already installed if you ask for it.  I didn’t have to pay anything extra for the card.

I really want to fall in love with this phone.  It is a beautiful device and the feature set is wonderful.  Verizon Wireless has a 30-day return policy for existing customers and it may take me the full 30-days to decide whether or not to keep it.

Comments?  Questions?  A good or bad experience with the Storm?  Post a comment!

Pro’s:

• Great looking.
• Nice feature set.
• Beautiful Screen.

Con’s:

• Heavy
• The accelerometer and menu system is laggy.

The title of this post is a bit of a misnomer, but writing the full titles of these two books would’ve been insane. This post is about two books from John Perkins - Confessions of an Economic Hit Man and The Secret History of the American Empire.

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

Just the title of this book had me thoroughly intrigued. This non-fiction, fast-paced book guides you into a cloak-and-dagger world that is usually reserved for CIA spies. The main characters are economic hit men (EHM) of which John Perkins was one, jackals and the military. The goal of an EHM? To gain control of a country, more correctly its resources, without having to invade.

If only half of this book is true, it paints a scary picture of how the US Government operates. The stories told are of assassinations and of one-sided deals that were a boon the American companies involved.

The Secret History of the American Empire

This book is a follow-up to Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. It goes into greater detail regarding the events mentioned in Confessions. It discusses John’s meteoric rise in the EHM ranks and his moral awakening.

Although a truly a great book the last chapter was too preachy for me. I understand his plight and why he’s trying to motivate the reader but I feel that it is misplaced and it better suited for another book.

Wrap-Up

If you’re interested in clandestine operations of the United States these books will prove to be a great read.

—I have read and thoroughly enjoyed both of these books. In the interest of full disclosure, this post contains Amazon affiliate links.

I am a programmer, a de facto project manager and anal when it comes to organization. I code for a living, code on the side and I’m also on the board of a local young professionals organization. My life is quite hectic at times and tasks can come at me from any angle. Unfortunately none of the task managers at my disposal ever really met my approval.

My latest foray into this arena comes from REXwireless. Their todoMatrix application does not fail to impress. Task organization is very natural - your tasks are organized by “drawers” and then by “folders.” A task takes under a few seconds to create, this is a great deal quicker than any of the other applications I’ve used.

Why I Love It

Another nice feature they have is named “injection.” todoMatrix installs an injection option to the menus provided by your Blackberry. Injection allows you to take the text currently displayed into a new task, saving a great deal of time.

Those few things made me fall in love with the application, but one feature really clinched it for me - rexDesktop. rexDesktop allows full CRUD on your todoMatrix data from the web.

Quirks

todoMatrix is not without its quirks. It would be nice if there was option on the menu that displays the shortcuts available. I’m sure they’re in the documentation but I’m too lazy to read it and I couldn’t carry it with me.

Also, I find the UI to be lackluster. I’m going to break that comment into three separate parts - 1. The Main Screen, 2. The Folder View, and 3. The Item View.

A Lackluster UI

The Main Screen

The main screen displays a tree which contains all of your drawers and folders. Although you can configure the colors of the folders, it still feels clunky to me. In Rex’s defense, I’m not sure what more can be done with a tree.

The Folder View

This view shows all of the tasks that are stored under a particular folder. The top quarter of the screen displays information related to the selected tasks and the bottom three quarters show all of the tasks.

The task detail section is too small. So small that labels for the six data elements that are displayed contain acronyms. These acronyms, although logical, I can’t get their meaning as quickly as I’d like to. I’m forced to look at their values in order to determine what I’m looking at. It seems to me that there is room to expand this section or at least expand the label names.

The tasks displayed give you a hint as to their status but there are only two colors used - a light blue for uncompleted tasks and a light gray for completed ones. I would like configurable colors for each status or priority. I understand that this could lead to confusion for the user, but if the colors are configurable, then the user could use as many or as few as they like.

The Item View

The Item View suffers from the same problem as the top portion of the Folder View but at least there’s a line that explains the meaning of each label.

RexDesktop

This is probably my favorite feature of this application. Unfortunately, it too suffers from a UI problem - it sucks. In a world full of Ajax and flashy UI’s this web app still looks like something from the late 90’s. It is fully functional it just looks ugly. But I’ll still choose function over form.

Wrap-Up

Although I write a great deal about the things I don’t like, todoMatrix is a great application. I feel that its strong points speak for themselves. I can’t wait to see how this application matures in the coming versions.

—

todoMatrix can be purchased at rexWireless.

The BlackBerry Pearl has just been released for Verizon Wireless. I know I’m not alone when I exclaim “Hooooray!” I received my phone on 11/7, after five days of using and playing with the phone I feel competent enough to write a review.

First, let me give you a background on where I’m coming from. I’m a Mac user since March 2007 and I’ve been a Palm user since 1999. As far as Palm’s go I’ve had the Handspring Visor, Handspring Visor Edge, Palm m500, the Palm m515 and the Palm Treo 650. This has been a long way of telling you that, in the past, I’ve been a heavy Palm OS user and this is my first BlackBerry.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Treo 650, let me give you a brief history. It’s a brick (-), its battery weighs more than my Pearl. It has a QWERTY keyboard (+). It has a touch screen (+). It has a large screen (+). It does email (+) but not very well (-).

Right out of the box the Pearl started to impress me. The size of it is simply amazing! It fits comfortably inside the palm of my hand and my thumb easily reaches the trackball. And, as I mentioned earlier, it weighs less than the battery of my old Treo 650.

The phone is also very stylish. The pictures I’ve seen on the internet do not give it justice. If you’re interested, go to the Verizon store and see it for yourself.

As far as the phone goes, I was a little apprehensive of even ordering it. The lack of a touch screen and a QWERTY keyboard really worried me.

On my Treo I could type amazingly fast, my fingers flew over the keyboard like a pianist’s fingers do over piano keys. On the other hand, the Pearl does not have a QWERTY keyboard. Instead it has two letters per key. In order to make typing easier the phone uses something called SureType. In short SureType is a Predicitive Text application that guesses the word you are typing based on the keys pressed.

In the past I’ve used T9 (another predictive text application) and quickly turned it off in favor of tapping each key in order to get the letter I wanted. So far I haven’t turned off SureType as it works rather well. One of the first things I did was type up an email with some of the words that most people don’t use - a co-worker’s last name, “Java,” “Lodgenet,” and some other things. It was able to guess all of them. But I found one problem - me. I worked against the application. In order for SureType to guess what you want, you have to type. I would type three letters, see that it was being displayed wrong so I would try to fix it. Instead, keep typing. Most of the time it will guess what you’re looking for.

If you’re a Mac user, beware of software installation. In the Palm world you would download a PRC file and tell the HotSync Manager to install it next time the Palm was synced. In Windows land this paradigm applies with BlackBerry as well. Unfortunately for us Mac OS users this simply isn’t possible - neither PocketMac nor Missing Sync support it. This is a major buzzkill for me. Thankfully OTA installations work but this is a major hassle.

As far as other Mac-centric things - I can’t find anything wrong. The Pearl integrates well with iCal, Address, etc.

BlackBerry has long been known as an email device. The Pearl is no different, it falls in-line with all of the other crackberries that have been released.

In order to get my email up and running, all I had to do was login into BlackBerry’s Verizon-Branded website, give them some information regarding my accounts and off it went. Within five minutes personal and consulting email (both hosted by Google) was being pushed to my phone. I didn’t have to enter in any technical information - just my username and password.

All in all the Pearl has been a rock solid device. I love using it, I love carrying it and I have love/hate relationship with instant access to my email.

Do you love or hate my post? Are you thinking about the Pearl and have questions? Do you have the Pearl and need to vent? Would you like to tell others how much you like your Pearl? Leave a comment!

---

The BlackBerry Pearl 8130 is available from Verizon Wireless for $199 after two-year contract and on-line discount.

When I initially setup a website for my consulting firm I decided to use Drupal. After months of letting the site lay dormant (I was too busy actually working) I decided to take some time to get it running. I must say that I am impressed.

What I Need

As with all websites it is important to have a clear idea of what you want out of the website. I split to split this into two separate lists - what I need now, and what I want in the future. In this post I will go into what I need now.

• Visitor Tracking via Google Analytics.
• Provide an easy way for prospective clients to contact me.
• Provide an easy way to update the site.
• A blogging mechanism.

How I Got There

Visitor Tracking via Google Analytics

Visitor tracking is important to any business. It provides a way to see a few things - Are people actually visiting the site? How long are they staying? Who is talking about site?

Setting up Google Analytics is easy enough - add some Javascript to the theme and be on your way. What happens when you want to switch the theme? You have to go back and update the theme. I don’t plan on changing the theme to often but why do it if I don’t have to?

The Google Analytics Project provides the ability to use Google Analytics without having to worry about the theme. It also provides lots of other useful features:

• Role Tracking - Only track the types of users you care about. Do you really need to track what your team is doing? Probably not.
• Profile/User Segmentation - This only works for people who have accounts on your site, but it’s still a nice feature. It gives you the ability to see which users did what or even track where the users are from!
• Download Tracking - If your site offers downloads, this is a must. Imagine the following situation: You post a PDF of the requirements for a project you’re working on. You can validate whether someone, in particular, the certain user (or users) has looked at it. Great to know if you’re worried about your project schedule.

Provide an easy way to prospective clients to contact me

Why have a website if the visitors can’t inquire about your services? I provide a simple page with contact details and mailto: links but that’s rather boring and doesn’t provide many features. So I wanted a form that users could use. Now, I could write my own form to do this but every time I wanted a new form, or I wanted to change an existing form I would have to update code. Being a programmer, this isn’t really difficult, but I wanted it easier.

The Webform module provides pretty much everything I want. With no programming involved at all I was able to create a form that collects all the information that I’m curious about. It also provides more nice features - it will automatically email the form, store the results in the database, and it also works with the Captcha project to prevent Spam.

Also be sure to check the Webform Report project. I haven’t worked with it enough to write it up, but it does looking like a promising reporting tool.

Provide an easy way to update the site

This feature is default with Drupal. I would go so far as to say that Drupal is simplicity. Don’t get me wrong, there is a learning curve involved but just click around inside of Drupal for an hour or so and I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it.

A blogging mechanism

Another great feature of Drupal is its blogging mechanism. Again, it’s another feature that comes with Drupal. Each user can have their own!

Finalize

So far my experience with Drupal has been great. I have been able to find modules for all the things I’ve been trying to accomplish. And I’m certain that I could write my own module if I can’t, especially after looking over the Developer’s Guide.

Linked List

The list below provides an easy way to get to some of the websites that I’ve written about.

• Drupal
• Google Analytics Project
• Webform Project
• Captcha Project
• Webform Report Project
• Drupal Developer’s Guide

If you like reading about all things hype, but are sick of reading about the iPhone, check out Xobni. The website encourages you to “Take back your Inbox.” After using this application, I must say, I think it can help.

If you’re just looking for screen shots, scroll to the bottom of this post.

Backstory

While reading Paul Graham’s essays I first noticed a link to Xobni. The icon (which you find in the right hand column of this page) intrigued me. I’m also addicted to all things organization so “taking back my Inbox” sounded great. Although I was a little skeptical, I signed-up for the beta and even put the button on my web site.

I fought the Inbox, and I won.

On Friday I received an invitation to download Xobni and I was psyched. (Note: Xobni thank-you, thank-you, thank-you for not succumbing to invititis.) Unfortunately the application is only available for Windows users and only for Outlook and I use a Macbook at home, so I was out of luck. Yesterday, I installed it - boy was I surprised!!

The installation process is as simple as you expect - close Outlook, run the install, wait (up to 25min) for it to gather statistics about your email. The length of time it takes to install should not deter you, trust me, it’s worth it.

After Xobni is installed, a context-sensitive sidebar is added to the right hand side of the Outlook window. Simply click on an email, any email and watch the extra pane change. Simply awesome!

If you’re a stats junkie you will love Xobni! At the top of the Xobni pane it displays: how much email you receive from this person (by time of day), a rank (which is how much email you receive from this person in comparison to everyone else) and, using the menu, you have access to a plethora of other customizable reports!

It shows the current email as a thread, this is similar to how Gmail does it.

It shows all the files you’ve exchanged with the person.

It allows you to setup a time to meet. When I first noticed this button I expected it to create an Outlook meeting request, it doesn’t. This may seem wrong but what Xobni does is much better. When you click this button a new email is opened and it includes your availability over the next week. Highly useful, especially if the person isn’t a fellow employee.

It automatically updates contact information. Don’t get worried, this contact information is Xobni-only so there’s no need to worry about this application ruining your contact list. This is only feature that gave me a problem - it doesn’t accurately guess the phone number 100% of the time. This problem happened once out of hundreds of people, so I really don’t think it’s anything major.

It shows all the people that are “connected” to the person who sent the email. A connection between people seems to be made when they both are recipients of an email you send. By clicking on a connection you can see all the information about them.

Wrap-Up

Simply put - Xobni rocks! The UI is fantastic. The reports are great and the application very snappy. Be sure to download it at www.xobni.com!

By the way, if you’re looking for a job, they’re hiring. The only reason I mention this is because Xobni looks like a fantastic place to work.

Screenshots

Ever since I bought my first Mac earlier in the year I’ve been searching for a nice backup solution. On my Windows machines I use SyncBack SE from 2BrightSparks. I love the application and nothing I found for Mac has come close. That is until I came across Smart Backup from Free Ride Coding.

Smart Backup is simple to use and easy to setup. It works exactly like you would expect - here are the files/folders I want to backup and I want you to place the backup here. It truly is that simple. The application also supports scheduled backups.

Test Scenario
As part of writing this post I ran a backup of my own. I use a Macbook 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 1GB RAM running Mac OS X (10.4.10). My backup consists of my whole home directory - musics, videos, documents, downloads, etc. This totals 46.12 GB or 73,278 files.

The destination is a Western Digital MyBook external hard drive. The hard drive is connected to the computer using USB 2.0.

While running the backup I still used my computer but not for anything too intensive. I did not look at videos, I didn’t try encoding anything or listening to music. Just normal internet browsing. Although most people will choose to perform the backup during off hours, I wanted to show the backup speed while the computer was in use.

Summary

In 3hrs, 55min, SmartBackup backed-up 46.12 GB of data.

Features I Love

• Simple to use
• Scheduled Backups.

Things I Hate

• I’ve run into “beachball” issues.
• The trial screen forces you to wait 20 seconds each time you load the application.

Purchase Information
Smart Backup costs $21.00 US (15 EUR) and can be purchased directly from FreeRideCoding.

Screenshots

Smart Backup - Registration/Trial Screen

Smart Backup - Main Screen

Smart Backup - Backup Screen

I am embarking on a new project and I’d like to use AJAX. Being unfamiliar with AJAX I decided to buy some books on the subject. After an hour or so spent browsing Barnes and Noble I settled on two books: Pro Apache Struts with Ajax and Practical Ajax Project with Java Technology both from Apress Publishing.

Below you’ll find mini-reviews of each book and the reason for this post.

Pro Apache Struts with Ajax

I have been using Struts for about two years now. By no means am I an expert but I am quite proficient. I was drawn to this book for two reasons: 1) I could use some more in-depth knowledge of Struts and 2) Combining Struts and Ajax seemed like a natural progression.

I perused the book before purchasing it and I found some interesting pieces of information and a very nice introduction to Ant. So I figured it was worth a shot. If the Struts part of this book is so in-depth, imagine the Ajax portion!

To say the least, the Ajax information in this book is lacking. By lacking, I mean the XMLHttpRequest object is explained and that is about it. If you look in the Index under “Ajax” there are a few references, but everything listed is in the appendix.

Although this book is interesting and still worth the price I found the title to be very misleading. I almost feel cheated because it seems like the publisher is trying to win sales on the back of the Ajax hype.

Practical Ajax Project with Java Technology

This is an excellent book. For a technical book it is a really great read!

The book is laid out in different projects starting from an implementation of Johnny Carson’s Karnak through a simple webmail application and onto a chat and RSS reader application.

Along the way the author, Frank Zammetti, shows us different Ajax Libraries such as Java Web Parts and DWR.

Also included in the book are some design patterns and anti-patterns. Although this falls more into the academic arena these sections are also a good read.

In the end, I would definitely recommend this book to someone who is looking for an introductory course in AJAX. As I mentioned, it is more of a big tutorial so those looking for a reference book may want to look elsewhere.