Lake Merritt, Oakland – Resources For New Residents

  Arial view of the Lake Merritt, Oakland area Moving to a new area is always a bit scary and involves a lot of work to get settled.  What things are there to do?  What restaurants are nearby?  What sorts of community involvement are available?  I went through this exercise after moving to the Lake

Baltimore Skywalks Being Demolished

One of my favorite posts about the downtown Baltimore skywalks (here) was timely- I recently learned some of these antiquated but cool urban features are being demolished soon.  Here are three articles about this: Baltimore City to Demolish Skywalks City Set To Demolish Skywalk Baltimore Readies for $2M Skywalk Demolition The city wants to get

PickFlicks is Available

I’m excited to announce the PickFlicks application is now available on the Windows Marketplace!  The approval process took about 3 days and it passed certification the first time.  You can click the link below or use the QR code to see more details on the marketplace page.  It’s free (ad supported) and I’ll update how

Emergency Tech Prep

A rare 5.8 earthquake followed by hurricane Irene within one week of each other on the East Coast has made everyone think about emergency preparedness.  I was on the 12th floor of an office building during the earthquake and for a few moments while the building was swaying, shaking, popping, and booming the terrifying thought

Digitize with Windows Phone 7, Gmail, and Handyscan

  I’ve been using an HTC HD7 running Windows Phone 7 for 6 weeks now, and I love it, rarely missing my iPhone.  I discovered a very useful technique to digitize all my important papers and receipts using the phone, an application called Handyscan, and Google Gmail.  This method allows you to scan papers with

Tech Tips from Appdev to Virtual PC

Quick Tips on Virtual PC development, LDAP, Training, Security, and eBay Just an assortment of hopefully useful miscellaneous items from things I’ve been working on lately along with resources for further review. Virtual PCs (VPC): If you’re in consulting you will find it necessary to develop programs on various platforms- Windows 2003, 2008, XP, Vista. 

iPad in my Pad

Having used my wi-fi iPad for a couple weeks now, I wanted to write some thoughts down on how I’m using it, favorite apps, and some tips. General Thoughts The iPad seems geared for ease of use for video/audio use, and it does that extremely well in a fun, refined fashion.  The touch interface is very

The Nearly Forgotten Baltimore Skywalks

And now for a non-tech diversion:  I recently discovered a little used yet interesting section of downtown Baltimore- a series of skywalks and skybridges crisscrossing many blocks and leading through hotels, office buildings, and parks.  It’s actually possible to use these walkways and go from Harborplace at the Inner Harbor up to the convention center

Why Closed Systems Like iPad Will be Successful

There’s lately been much discussion about closed vs. open software systems, particularly as it relates to the smartphone, tablet , and video game system markets .  The iPhone and iPad (and to an extent their desktop/laptop systems) are seen as “closed” since Apple tightly controls how applications are developed, approved, and sold on those platforms. 

Fun with How-To Videos

A while ago I added some beginner how-to videos to my Senior Citizen’s website, and it was an interesting and fun process.  These videos are published on YouTube, and some people have even viewed and commented on them!  Here’s what I did, and it’s easy: –  Using Microsoft Virtual PC, I created a virtual machine