Christian Nimsky - The Feedhttp://christian.nimsky.net/blog/en-US2008-10-11T13:39:26ZSquarespace Site Server v5.0.0 (http://www.squarespace.com/)Update: Parrot vs. BlueAnt Supertooth IIIhttp://christian.nimsky.net/blog/2008/9/26/update-parrot-vs-blueant-supertooth-iii.htmlChristian2008-09-26T18:17:20ZGadgetsJust a quick update on our dual trial of the Parrot MINIKIT and BlueAnt Supertooth III: The BlueAnt device is superior in operation and battery life.  After the Parrot “checked out” on my wife we now own TWO BlueAnt ST3’s.  We have a third car where the Parrot can live, but for our daily drivers it’s BlueAnt.

]]>Ultimate Home Vociemailhttp://christian.nimsky.net/blog/2008/9/23/ultimate-home-vociemail.htmlChristian2008-09-23T05:37:33ZFamily CTOBack when I traveled a lot I tried out this new service called SimulScribe because it represented a much better way to triage and return voicemail after landing at the airport, where it is difficult to write down voicemails you have received in-flight and return the calls as you catch a cab.  Now called PhoneTag (sorry guys, your new brand just doesn’t resonate with me so I’m going to refer to it as SimulScribe hereforward) the service takes voicemail and transcribes it as text which is sent to you as an email, along with the original attachment should you need to hear it yourself.  It is very accurate and as much a “life changer” as TiVo is for TV viewing. 

I was so enthusiastic that I got my wife an account of her own for her birthday and we are now happy users.  We wanted to apply the same functionality to our home phone to deal with the endless stream of soccer practice updates, voicemails from the kids’ school, playdate proposals from BFFs (best-friends-forever), etc.  but without paying for a third account.  We found a way to do so by capitalizing on one of SimulScribe’s most useful features.  Read on…

]]>Questions For the LHChttp://christian.nimsky.net/blog/2008/9/18/questions-for-the-lhc.htmlChristian2008-09-18T07:37:10ZBooksIn the spirit of firing up the Large Hardron Collider, I recently read (well, listened to on audio) A Briefer History of Time by Hawking and Mlodinow.  Even though I had more than my share of phyisics and math in college I prefer this, ah, more accessible version.  It’s a nice short read that gives some context to the questions we’re trying to answer with the LHC.


]]>This Won't Hurt a Bit - Hold Still Please...http://christian.nimsky.net/blog/2008/8/19/this-wont-hurt-a-bit-hold-still-please.htmlChristian2008-08-19T06:46:25ZGadgets(c) CERN, Image courtesy of Boston.comJust wanted to point out some great photos (and humorous user comments) on Boston.com of the Large Hadron Collider, which at 27km long is the largest particle accelerator and one of the most important scientific experiments of our time.  My favorite user-generated one-liner: “I hope it’s not running Windows Vista.” Its amazing to see such beautiful photos of technology that could change our understanding of the very fabric of our universe.  Thanks to Brad Feld for posting about this; otherwise I wouldn’t have seen it.

]]>Super Bluetoothhttp://christian.nimsky.net/blog/2008/8/17/super-bluetooth.htmlChristian2008-08-17T00:25:34ZGadgetsBlueAnt Supertooth IIIHere in California as the much publicized cellphone laws have gone into effect I’ve had to start wearing my earbud.  All the time.  Now while my earbud - a Plantronics 910 - is a great earbud, when I used it in the car previously it was more for when I had a big call to do.  Short “yes I’m on my way home” calls didn’t warrant the earbud in my mind.

For the past few weeks I’ve been wearing it religiously and it’s kind of a pain to do that: I don’t like having to carry an earbud and then either be faced with the job of keeping track of the darn thing - they’re small - or wearing it all the time and looking like “one of the earbud people.”   Some people still aren’t sure if it’s good to have a transmitter on the side of your head either.  So, we bought a portable battery powered bluetooth speakerphone for our two non-speakerphone commuter cars.  Our first was a Parrot Minikit, and the other was the BlueAnt Supertooth III. 

]]>Travel Light & Charge Anythinghttp://christian.nimsky.net/blog/2008/6/20/travel-light-charge-anything.htmlChristian2008-06-20T20:57:59Zsolio.jpgLast year I read a book called The Four Hour Workweek which contains not only a thought-provoking philosophy but also little tips and tricks the author has learned along the way.  One of those tips was using a Solio charger to simplify the task of packing all the chargers for your electronic gadgets.

I bought one of the original Solio devices and was impressed.  Recently they’ve improved upon it however with the Solio Magnesium Edition. 

]]>Easy Does It With My Identity!http://christian.nimsky.net/blog/2008/6/5/easy-does-it-with-my-identity.htmlChristian2008-06-05T04:25:46ZRantsI’ve enjoyed Plaxo’s ability to sync address data between multiple services for a while and I even enjoy their new Pulse product.  But the two are too integrated without enough control around contact info updates.  This week when I installed their Mac OS X Sync conduit to sync up my address book it took some old email addresses that I no longer use and evidently today the Plaxo service chose to broadcast those out to presumably everyone.  They weren’t work email addresses and I didn’t authorize Plaxo to do the broadcast.

After I did the sync yesterday I noticed an email asking me to confirm that a current email address was in fact mine.  I clicked on the link, logged in as myself and instead of some confirmation acknowledgement I saw that Plaxo had sent a “Pulse” update like this one:

plaxomisfire.jpg
What are you thinking Plaxo?!  If I wanted to broadcast new info out to everyone via Pulse, I would do so.  I don’t need you to take some address book sync - an operation that can often do funny things with old contact information - and automatically broadcast it without asking me. 

To the gang at Plaxo: I like where you are headed conceptually with your new services but you have got to realize you are now in the identity management business.  With that in mind, please put some gates around personal identity updates.  After I uninstall your sync conduit it will take me a while to fully trust you with my data again. 

]]>Airport Express Trickshttp://christian.nimsky.net/blog/2008/4/24/airport-express-tricks.htmlChristian2008-04-24T23:02:56ZGadgetsairportexpress.jpgI have never used any of the Airport Express’ multimedia features and I don’t intend to.  On overnight trips I carry an Apple Airport Express with me because it is simple, small, travel-friendly way to share an internet connection.  The other night, I found out a new reason to carry one with me. ]]>Initial MacBook Air Opinionshttp://christian.nimsky.net/blog/2008/2/10/initial-macbook-air-opinions.htmlChristian2008-02-10T05:02:33ZGadgetsI’ve had the new MacBook Air for a few days now and I like it.  I ordered the 1.8Ghz model with the 64GB solid-state drive and, if I were to believe all the professional reviews, I have overpaid for a Mac that can’t keep up with a regular MacBook or Mac Mini, much less a MacBook Pro.

I own an Mac Mini and a MacBook Pro, and my reaction to those assertions is that speed and power aren’t the driving point although this Mac Air holds its own.  The MacBook Air is a well designed product and it’s useful, even without 5 expansion ports and a DVD drive.  My reaction to the design is that Apple is taking another step toward having an appliance with you 24/7.  It might be an iPhone.  Maybe a MacBook Air.  Whatever the machine, they want to be with you all the time.  That strikes me as the quintessential new media viewpoint - instead of “tune into me” Apple is sort of saying, “I will go along with you.  I’ll be there.”

That’s pretty cool.  Now if they could just increase the battery life on this thing and round off the edge of the keyboard that grates on my wrists as I type this note I’d be a completely satisfied camper…

]]>Gasping for Airhttp://christian.nimsky.net/blog/2008/2/2/gasping-for-air.htmlChristian2008-02-02T06:18:41Zair.png

I haven’t posted for a while because I’ve been super-busy with a startup that I’m working on and with travel.  The title of this post has nothing to do with that however — rather I am breathlessly waiting for my Macbook Air to arrive and Apple is driving me crazy by shipping every single little accessory I ordered before shipping me what I really want: The Air.

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