Category Archives: Call Me a Geek

The things I do and think about computers.

Vista Support Sketchy

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Upgrading to Vista isn’t something to dive into.

To complete my two Excel book revisions for Excel 2007 on Vista, I’ve had to install Microsoft’s new operating system on a new computer capable of running it. The install wasn’t difficult and the configuration wasn’t hard, either. What is though, however, is getting support for non-Microsoft applications you may need to run on your computer.

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t run much software on my PC. I run Microsoft Office and FileMaker Pro, which I write books and articles about. I run a Web browser, primarily to check on the appearance of my sites in a Windows Web browser. But I also run some unusual software, such as Garmin Mapsource (for putting maps on my GPS), Jeppesen Skybound (for updating GPS data on my helicopter’s GPS data card), and Citrix Client (for connecting to the FAA service and managing my OpSpecs).

Microsoft Office 2007 installed without problem on Vista. No surprise there. I haven’t tried installing FileMaker Pro yet. Garmin MapSource installed immediately and, with the TOPO map set, seems to work just fine.

But SkyBound wouldn’t install at all — tech support says they might have a Vista compatible version available in the first quarter of 2007. They claim they were unable to get the Vista beta in advance to work on an upgrade. So if you’re Vista only, you simply cannot use this software. Which is really a pain in the butt, since the database is updated every 28 days, so the software must be used monthly to get your money’s worth.

I asked the Citrix folks if their software would work with Vista. The tech support person said, “I don’t even know what Vista is.” I explained it to her. I told her that come January 30, it’ll be available to the world and that people who like to run the latest and greatest operating system software will be calling and asking the same thing. I told her I’d try installing it, but since I have so much trouble running the software on XP, I really don’t think I’m going to waste a day or two trying to get it to work on Vista. (Of course, it might work perfectly on Vista; I’m just afraid to try.)

Another tech support person I called — I can’t remember who or why — also didn’t know what Vista is. Which makes me wonder whether these people just have real lives that don’t keep them abreast of upcoming developments or if Microsoft is failing miserably at getting people excited about Vista.

My advice: make sure the software you need to run will work with Vista before you upgrade to Vista. And if you have to buy a new computer just to run Vista (as I did) you might want to make sure your software will run on Vista before you make that very large hardware investment. Waiting 3 or 6 months might save you a lot of grief — and a lot of money as hardware prices continue to drop and systems get more powerful.

Flying M Air Videos on YouTube

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I take the videos mainstream.

Well, with YouTube pulling copyrighted video content from Comedy Central off its site every day, I thought I’d help fill the gap by adding Flying M Air‘s video podcasts to the YouTube servers. [Insert smiley here for the benefit of people who believe that I think my little videos can replace Comedy Central content.]

You can find all of the videos on the Flying M Air Channel.

Come Fly with Us! Has 7 Subscribers

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Already! Cool!

Come Fly with Us!, the video podcast I whipped up for Flying M Air the other day, already has 7 subscribers. I think that’s pretty cool.

I checked the iTunes Music Store and found that it was listed there. Oddly enough, only two subscribers are checking in with iTunes. The others are using MyYahoo, Jakarta Commons, and a Java-based reader. I’m wondering if they’re all seeing the video that goes with the podcast. I hope so, since that’s all there really is.

I wrote an article about how to publish a video podcast using WordPress and submitted it to InformIt for possible publication on their site. If they take it, I’ll link to it when it’s published. If they don’t, it’ll appear on this site and on our WordPress VQS support site.

I created the second release for Come Fly with Us! on Tuesday. It’ll be released next Monday. I’ve decided to create the episodes in advance and release them on Mondays. It’s pretty easy to do with WordPress — just date the entries in the future and they won’t appear online until that date and time rolls around. I sometimes do that with entries on this site — like the About the Photos entries that were appearing quite regularly for a while. I wrote all of those in August and set them to release weekly for the next four months. (Time do do more, too.)

Next Monday’s release will show the Swansea Town Site ghost town. Those photos were taken on the ground. Some of them are a few years old. I think I’ll do a release on Wickenburg for the following week. Got some pictures today when I was out flying with my friend Kathy. Then possibly Sedona, from the air and on the ground.

Now if only I could get this ambitious with my personal podcast. I haven’t recorded an entry for a few months now.

Flying M Air Video Podcast Now Online

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It took me a while to figure it out.

Come Fly with UsI spent about 4 hours yesterday morning and another hour this morning publishing a video podcast for Flying M Air. Why so long? Because I couldn’t find a single how-to guide online to explain how to do it the way I wanted to get it done.

On Friday, I got back from a 3-1/2 day trip around the southwest with photographer Richard Noll. Rick and I took tons of pictures and video — much of which was from the air — of the places we visited. The goal of our trip was not only to perform a final check on travel, hotel, and tour arrangements for the Southwest Circle Helicopter Adventure, but to gather images I could use to market Flying M Air’s tours and excursions. I now have over 1,000 still images and 4+ hours of video to go through.

iMovie HD 6 and iDVD 6: Visual QuickStart GuideI spent some time early Saturday morning with iMovie and Jeff Carlson‘s excellent book, iMovie HD 6 and iDVD 6: Visual QuickStart Guide. The book has everything you need to know to create a great looking movie in iMovie HD, from choosing a video camera to building the movie with titles, transitions, and effects. It then goes on to discuss IDVD (which I’m not ready for yet). I learned a lot of things, including that I can reverse and slow down video clips — two effects I’ll need for my final project: a 20-minute promotional DVD.

Yesterday’s starter project was to build a slide show of images taken in the Phoenix area. The slide show would make good use of the Ken Burns effect to add motion to still images. I’d also included opening and closing titles, transitions, and music. It was a very simple project, and with Jeff’s guidance, I was able to knock it off in about an hour with about 15 slides. The final video is about 2-1/2 minutes long.

Although Jeff’s book discusses publishing a video podcast with iMovie and iWeb, I was not interested in using iWeb. It might be a great tool for Web publishing newbies, but it lacks the control features I need. (This might sound strange, but the software is so easy that it’s hard for an experienced user to use.) I wanted to publish a video podcast of this and future Flying M Air movies right on the blog-based Flying M Air Web site. This way, the videos would be available immediately to site visitors as well as by podcast to subscribers. I knew this was possible, but I couldn’t find any clear guidance on things like format (Was the export to iPod format the right one?), linking (Was it as easy as just including a link to the file?), and server settings (Did I have to modify .htaccess?).

Phoenix Tour ThumbnailI got the answers to all of these questions through Web research and trial-and-error. I got it working at about 5:30 AM this morning and was pleased to see the new podcast file being downloaded into iTunes. I then spent another hour tweaking the settings for Flying M Air’s WordPress theme files so instructions would appear onscreen when a site visitor checked the contents of the new Video & Slide Shows category.

Interested in seeing my first effort? You can download the m4v file (which can be viewed in iTunes or QuickTime) or subscribe to the podcast.

And if you’d like to read a how-to article that provides step-by-step instructions for publishing an iMovie project as a podcast with WordPress (rather than iWeb), keep checking in. I’ll write it up today, but Informit.com has first dibs. After all, I do like to be paid for my work.

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New Computer Diary: The Computer Arrives

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It’s here in record time.

Not bad for free shipping. I just placed the order on Wednesday. That’s less than a week. I think that the more you spend at the Apple Store, the more likely they are to get it delivered to you quickly.

The computer I ordered is a 15″ MacBook Pro. Here are the specs, right from the confirmation e-mail I received moments after placing the order.

MacBook Pro, 15-inch, 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo
1GB 667 DDR2 – 1 SO-DIMM
100GB Serial ATA drive @ 5400 rpm
SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
MacBook Pro 15-inch Widescreen Display
Apple USB Modem
Backlit Keyboard/Mac OS – U.S. English
AirPort Extreme Card & Bluetooth
AppleCare Protection

This is my latest Mac test mule, destined to a life of leisure, sitting quietly, powered off, waiting for me to call it into action to run software while I write a Mac book or article.

Although the more I think about it, the more I think I might want to use it a tiny bit more often. Heck, when I spend that kind of money on a computer, I want to get my money’s worth.

It arrived in a brown box that was surprisingly lightweight. The FedEx Ground guy brought it to my office, even though it was addressed to me at my house. This is Wickenburg and there’s just one FedEx Ground guy. If he knows where you’ll be during the day, that’s where he’ll bring brown boxes from computer companies. Oddly enough, he wasn’t quite sure where I’d be and seemed relieved when I opened the door and he recognized me.

“I couldn’t remember which apartment you were in,” he admitted.

This didn’t surprise me. I don’t use FedEx Ground very often because they usually can’t find my house. I think this guy had been tipped off about my apartment-based office by the FedEx overnight guy. Neither of them like taking their trucks down the road to get to my house. And they like making a U-Turn in my driveway even less. UPS is the same, although I had to put a stop to them delivering my stuff to the airport.

“If there’s a red vehicle in spot number 18, I’m here,” I told him.

I signed for the computer and he went on his way. Then I left it by the door so I wouldn’t forget to take it home with me.

Yes, that’s right. I didn’t open it right up. That shouldn’t surprise you too much. It took me a whole week to open my PC laptop when I bought it two months ago or so.

Why? Well, I’m busy. Today I revised Chapter 8, the last chapter, of my Excel 2007 Visual QuickProject Guide. I had a bad headache all day and it was hard enough to keep my mind on my work without being distracted by a brand new Mac.

When the chapter was done and I called it quits for the day, I carried the computer out to the Jeep with a few other things that needed to go home. Jack the dog was with me. He jumped in and we started out. I had to stop at the post office on the way home. And then pay a visit to Dr. Saxby.

Dr. Saxby is a chiropractor. But unlike the chiropractor I once visited regularly back in New Jersey for my sciatica, when Dr. Saxby adjusts you, you don’t need to visit three times a week. You go once and he cracks you all over the place, leaving you feeling like … well, like shit. The next day, though, you feel great. He put me on the roller table, where the rollers rolled up my back. Then, on the adjustment table, he cracked every joint in my body — including my toes. Another patient, who had taken my place on the roller table, let her dogs wander around the office. A third patient, a man, was holding one of the dogs on his lap when I emerged, sweating and exhausted.

Jack the Dog and the new computer were still in the Jeep when I came out.

We went home. I picked up the mail along the way — our mailbox is about 1/4 mile from the house. My royalty statement from Peachpit was among the big envelopes. All 67 pages of it. Sheesh. Wouldn’t it be nice if all the books in the statement earned money at once?

Finally, I could wait no longer. I went back outside and got the computer box. I opened the box and found a smaller box, wrapped in plastic, nestled in foam corners. I pulled it out and stowed the foam corners back in the brown box.

Apple has incredible packaging. It makes you want what’s in the box. That in itself is odd when you consider that the boxes are never displayed where the computers are available for sale. So that beautiful packaging is obviously intended for the end user, a kind of gift that’s meant to be opened and kept. I guess that’s why I still have the boxes for all the Apple equipment I still own. They take up a lot of space in the back corner of my hangar.

Nestled inside, in custom-carved white foam, was the computer and it’s accessories, including the power supply, video adapter, external USB modem, and Front Row remote control. There was also a flat square box that had a tiny manual, Restore DVD, and a bunch of warranty stuff I’m sure I’ll never read.

The computer looks remarkably like my 12″ PowerBook. It’s just a lot bigger. That’s unfortunate. What I really wanted was another 12″ PowerBook with the new processor and a bigger hard disk. I found the 13″ MacBook tempting because of its size, but was completely turned off by the cheesy feel of its case.

Of course now that I’ve shot my load on a 15″ MacBook Pro, Apple will probably release the computer I really wanted to buy. My luck, you see.

I opened the lid and pushed the power button. The computer bonged to life. It then went through the video thing it does right after you install Mac OS X. When it was finished welcoming me in every language known to man, I went through the configuration process. From power on to running and connecting to the ‘Net took all of three minutes — most of which was spent on that silly welcome video stuff.

The computer appears to be loaded with iLife and iWork software. I expected iLife, which I already have on disk, but not iWork. There are some demos, too. And an app called Photo Booth, which I’d never seen before. This is the first Front Row-compatible computer I’ve bought (timing is everything) and it’s a good thing I bought it. When I revise my Mac OS X book for Leopard, I can include coverage of Front Row. I guess I’ll have to learn how to use that remote.

Mike came home as I was taking a photo using the built-in iSight camera. He got in the picture. It’s now my icon throughout the system. Oddly enough, I can’t figure out where it’s stored on the hard disk, although I do know how to change it.

Software Update popped up, telling me I needed about 700 MB worth of upgrades. Later on, after dinner, I plugged in the computer — I really do like that magnetically attached power cord — and let it suck updates off the Internet. It was still working on it when I went to sleep.