November 2008

Microsoft and Family – LifeCam VX-5500 & Microsoft Office 2008

by Michael Sheehan on November 25, 2008

in Apple, Family, Gadgets, General, Hardware, Microsoft, Review, Software

When you think about Microsoft, the first thing that comes to your mind is probably not Family. If you are like me, Microsoft software rules your computer at your office and runs the infrastructure there as well. Microsoft has done quite well in securing the business space from desktop productivity tools like Office to BackOffice systems that get your email through your corporation (like Windows Server and Exchange Server). So when I was approached to write about how great Microsoft products are for the family, I actually blinked a few times before my brain shifted gears.

I hadn’t really equated anything Microsoft (other than the Xbox 360, which I don’t have, btw) as being very common within the family environment. I mean sure, there are LOTS and lots of PC’s in American households and many of them are running some version of Windows, Office or even Works. The Media Center Editions of XP and Vista now present compelling family-oriented products as well, especially with the convergence of the TV and Computer. Personally, I run a fairly heavy Apple household, with the majority of my Macs being hand-me-downs or computers I have refurbished. I believe that Macs are really great computers for kids, with solid parental control. But, while I may be the family CTO, our family CEO (my wife) doesn’t want a Mac. She’s been on a Windows box for a long time. Of course I keep her supplied with the latest and greatest Microsoft software and every few years we upgrade her laptop (I get her old ones to monkey with). But she is all business and armed with her Blackberry syncing to her Microsoft Outlook, there is rarely a play-date or doctor appointment that is missed. (I’m just waiting for her to bust out a copy of Microsoft Project…if that happens, we are all doomed.)

So, even in my household, Microsoft means business, serious business. There are no fun and games here…at least until I started playing around with a couple of Microsoft products that were more geared toward family and less so business. There are 2 products I’m going to discuss here: the Microsoft LifeCam VX-5500 and Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac.

Special Holiday Savings –> Before I jump into more details, those of you shopping around for a great Software gift for your family, Microsoft Office 2008 for the Macintosh is currently 50% off its normal price (well, if you are reading this before Black Friday 2008, it is 75% off at Best Buy Online, Amazon and Apple Stores). This won’t last for ever so if you are reading this article after the holidays, you have probably missed your opportunity! That means that (as of this writing on 11/25/08), at Amazon, for example, you can get the Microsoft Office 2008 Special Media Edition for about $175…WAIT, it’s $139 NOW for Black Friday! (normal retail, on Amazon, for example, is $499.). Hurry because the price will go back up soon!

The Microsoft LifeCam VX-5500

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Fix-it: iPhone “Sync Session Could Not Be Started”

by Michael Sheehan on November 17, 2008

in Apple, Cellular, Fix It, Gadgets, General, Hardware, HTD Tech Tip, iPhone, Software

Well this past weekend I ran into a rather confusing problem which I did manage to resolve, however, I’m not sure exactly how I resolved it nor what really caused it. I have some ideas on both the cause and resolution so I will try to work through those here. This all came when I tried to sync my iPhone to iTunes (on my Mac). I plugged it in and it started to sync and I got the rather cryptic error message (image below) saying: “iTunes could not sync <item>to the iPhone ‘<insert iPhone name>’ because a sync session could not be started.” For me, the <item> was my Bookmarks, supposedly, but in the end, it was Contacts as well.

That makes a lot of sense, right? So, first my “environment”

iPhone was “supposed” to be syncing contacts through iTunes
Plaxo for Mac installed and syncing contacts (supposedly)
New version of Plaxo installed recently
MobileMe configured but not syncing anything
Last.fm recently installed

Some weirdness that was happening: [click to continue…]

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Tip: Snapping a MacBook Pro or PowerBook Upper Case Back Together

by Michael Sheehan on November 12, 2008

in Apple, Fix It, Gadgets, General, Hardware

I have, over the years, cracked open a few PowerBooks and MacBook Pros, either to change a DVD drive or to upgrade the Hard Drive. My latest upgrade I did was to put a 320 GB Hard Drive in my MacBook Pro. I actually got pretty quick at it as I had to do it a couple of times. There are some fantastic guides on how to perform “surgery” on your various Macs over at iFixIt. Their guides are clearly walk through the steps needed to perform the upgrade or part swap. Complete with pictures, tools and parts required, screws used and instructions, these guides are critical if you are performing any work on your Mac.

They are, however, missing one thing (at least the ones that I used), the instructions on how to put things back together. Most of the guides end with phrases similar to “just follow the steps in reverse order to reassemble.” Usually, this is great. I use an egg carton to hold my screws. On each step in the instructions when screws are removed, I write a number down on the instructions and a corresponding number on the egg carton. Putting things back together is usually pretty straight forward.

With the MacBook Pro (and most likely with the PowerBook), when you are reattaching the Upper Case to the Lower Case, there is a trick. Usually the back and sides fall right back in place (be sure you guide it so that no little metal pieces or tabs are out), but when you get to the front of the computer, there is a bit of a challenge. There are several little snaps in the front part that take a lot of pressure to actually make “snap.” The first few times I tried this, I didn’t know that you actually had to make them snap so I just put it together and did the rest of the assembly instructions. For the most part, everything seemed fine without the full snapping but it just didn’t make sense. So I scoured around the Net and didn’t really find much that tells you that you actually MUST press firmly on the edge of the laptop (see illustration below) until you actually hear it SNAP.

But before you go madly snapping away, you MUST be careful when you try pushing down when you are over the DVD/CD ROM slot. That section is naturally weaker than other parts. But I have a solution for that which works very well. Simply get 4-6 business cards and slide them half-way into the slot. This will provide enough padding and resistance for you to snap above the DVD slot (see illustration below).

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HTD Tech Tip #4: How to Organize Tech Manuals and Documents

by Michael Sheehan on November 10, 2008

in General, Hardware, HTD Tech Tip, Software

Have you ever been searching for a receipt for some sort of a gadget or tech device that you purchased? What about trying to remember what was covered under the warrantee? And if you are like me, you have manuals stored in random drawers or bookcases. Do you even know where that big screen TV manual is at? Nowadays, with the Internet, you can get documentation and warrantee information at the manufacturer’s site. However, if your device is quite a few years old, it might be a bit of a challenge to find them on those sites.

Here are some simple thing that you can do to keep track of all of your important manuals and documents of your tech devices. Unless you are incredibly well organized and have files for all of your appliances and devices, you probably have manuals floating around drawers and bookcases or in boxes in the garage. Here are a fewÂ little tricks that I do that will save you from having to hunt for those pesky missing receipts and documents:

Compile all of the various “important” documents related to your hardware
Carefully go through what came from the manufacturer. Most of the time, you can discard 80% of the materials. Throw out all of the advertisements and keep the essentials: manual, warrantee, etc.
Get a large Ziploc bag (e.g., 1 gallon). It helps to have a bag that is sealable and clear so you can keep things contained but still see what is inside.
Grab a stapler and staple the receipt inside the front cover of the manual.
Finally, put the Ziploc bag in a drawer near your device. For example, if you store remotes for your TV in a coffee table drawer, put the manuals et al there.

This way, if you start making this process a habit, you always know where to look for any documents related to your device.

Of course, if you really want to move to the digital age, you could find the PDF version of the manual and scan in all of your receipts and keep them stored on your computer in files somewhere. One gadget I would love to get my hands on is the Xambox which let’s you just scan thing in randomly into a box and then just organize it “chaotically.” This is something that I follow: Chaotic Filing where you put documents into small boxes after you scan them and then you search for the documents within a software program. Once you find what you are looking for, you learn the box number or ID and just find that box. Your search time is then drastically reduced. Another similar solution is provided by The Neat Company, called NeatDesk, but this doesn’t include the box filing that Xambox includes. [click to continue…]

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Slingbox PRO-HD: Initial Setup

November 7, 2008

So by now you have gone through the Slingbox Pre-installation tasks of setting up your network (wired, wireless or over the powerlines) and you have checked through the box to be sure that you know what connectors you need and how to use them. Let’s take a look at the steps of setting up and [...]

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HTD Tech Tip #3: Security Programs Don’t Always Play Well Together

November 4, 2008

It’s always important, if not critical to have anti-virus & security programs installed on your PC. I’m actually a big fan of the various Security Suites that you can get that come with all of the different types of protection packaged together (firewall, anti-virus, ant-spyware, anti-malware, anti-spam, etc.). With the all-in-one package, you don’t have [...]

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