Note: RealTechNews Subscribers Got this newsletter in May. Today they will get a new newsletter that again will aim to be unique content you cannot find here. It was my promise to to create a newsletter that isn’t just a re-hash of this blog, and to make it a long read vs. just a bunch of links.
Here is Issue One for those who missed it. To stay current, . It’s free and hopefully a newsletter you’ll enjoy each month. –Alice
Click the “More” Link below to see the entire newsletter.
In This Issue:
1. Welcome Everyone (At Last)
2. Rant of the Month: Blog Overload!
3. This Month’s Project Notebook: Voice-Guided GPS for Under $200
4. Four Trends Worth Knowing About
5. Alice’s Radar
6. And of Course…A Sally Struthers Moment
1. Welcome Everyone (At Last)
This has to win the record for the longest newsletter to remain in development in recorded history, but let’s just say it has been a challenging year, and I thank you for your patience. Many of you came to this newsletter from the column I wrote with Bill O’Brien called The Hard Edge; in Computer Shopper magazine. It was a major blow when Shopper pulled the plug this fall after 12 years, and we scrambled to launch AliceandBill.com to keep a connection with our readers. And then, Bill and I had an unfortunate falling out over the professional direction of the blog, and now months later here we are, or rather here am I. (You can read more on that online later.)
One of the things I learned when I used to write CNET’s newsletter, The Digital Dispatch was to ask your readers what *they* wanted in a newsletter. So I did. Last summer I sent out a simple email asking you all what you wanted to see in a tech newsletter, and the main reply seemed to be as follows: Don’t re-hash your blog, monthly is about right timeframe-wise, skip a ton of graphics and HTML, and give us lots of good strong rants and opinion.
With that in mind, this is my first crack at a format I hope you will find valuable. I look forward to this newsletter format. I am trying to make it personal and opinionated and not jammed with flashing ads and promos, so please give it a good long read (you have a month) and if you like what you see, let me know. Likewise if you don’t. I am always up for fine-tuning.
Thanks and welcome!
Alice Hill
alice@realtechnews.com
2. Rant of the Month: Blog Overload!
I love blogs. I run one after all and post to it daily, seven days a week. Some nights I am like a desperate crack fiend typing and linking and posting. Others, I feel like there’s just nothing all that new to say anymore. You write about a Hello Kitty USB device, and show yet another cool cell phone from Japan, and well, let’s just say that and a little iPod posting and most bloggers I’ve seen call it a day.
Slackers!
This week, I just hit blog overload. Tech blogs are getting better but the same information is just going round and round and round. Site X points to Site Y which had a story from Site Q that included quotes from Site F. I know it’s a Web but give me a break!
Whatever happed to sitting down with your own thoughts and maybe a product or two and really covering what matters? What happened to warning buyers about bad products or demonstrating how to save a few bucks, or just shutting up when everyone has posted the same digital camera picture 1,000 times? People are just getting lazy with all the cutting and pasting.
This week I decided to take action. RealTechNews.com will always include the zany search engines like Booble, PVRs are a no brainer topic, and cool open source software like Open Office is kicking butt right now, but I am also getting back to my own techie roots and doing more hands on stuff you won’t see on 3,000 other blogs.
This month I am launching a feature I call Project Notebook that will be a no holds barred look at a project I am working on including my own screenshots and photography. This month you’ll see how to add GPS to your car for under $200. I hope you like it.
Before we go, I want your opinion since we all read blogs. Are you experiencing blog overload? Or what is it about tech blogs that you like or are getting sick of. Please take a second to post something in our online forum. I am really curious if it’s just me, or if I am sensing a slight sea change.
Post Your Comments Here:
3. This Month’s Project Notebook: Voice-Guided GPC for Under $200
Ever since I rented a car in France that accidentally came with a free voice guided GPS system, I have been lusting and drooling over every car commercial and product page I see that sports an in-dash mapping system. That in-car GPS system literally saved our trip in the French countryside with maddening traffic circles and little roads no one would find with a map. Miss a turn and it simply found a new route, announcing every move in a collected and cheery English woman’s voice. We called her the lady and she became like a friend on the trip.
Since then, I have had my eye on many products like a few Garmin and Tom Tom Go devices, but the price is mind boggling. Some close to a thousand. You can also add in GPS capability to your PDA but I always wonder about accuracy if you aren’t outside walking around. I also don’t use a traditional PDA and nothing is available for the Blackberry.
And then it hit me. I have a $1,000+ device. It’s called a laptop. Why not harness my laptop that I seem to haul with me everywhere anyway into an in-car GPS system?
After some research I found the Garmin GPS18 USB. I got it for about $120. The unit is small and simple. It comes with a puck-sized magnetic antenna and suction cup mounting bracket. You can put it directly on your roof outside (it’s weather proof) or on the front windshield inside with the suction cups. The USB cable is 6 ft long.
The software installation however was a living Hell. It literally almost broke me. The installation program would ask me to insert the next disk, but when I did it would demand disc 1 which in turn would ask for the other. I worked on it for at least four hours. Here is one of the error messages that drove me insane. There was no way to get rid of it. Even Widows task manager was unable to clear it.
In the end the secret was to move the error box to the right and then somehow the program seemed to be using the correct disc despite the message. I swear this would have broken a novice in two.
Once up and running the nRoute travel program, I stuck the antenna on my office window to begin orienting the receiver. It claimed to need 15 minutes to find itself. (Don’t we all!) For one instance it thought I was in Washington State but then correctly found me in downtown San Francisco. Even with what looked like a clear view of the sky, the program would say satellite connection lost many times and then try again. I was staring to feel doomed.
When it was time to head home, I set the antenna up on my windshield, fired up my laptop and being in a covered parking garage, got the Searching for Satellites message until at least 7 minutes outside of the garage. This is good to know if you have no idea how to start your journey and you are not outside when you begin.
But then a funny thing happened. The thing worked! It followed my path and suggested my upcoming turns with incredible accuracy. When I took my usual route home and not the one it had chosen for me, it quickly found the freeway I was shooting for and got me on the on-ramp without a hitch.
And then when I decided to not go by my friend’s office (I had typed in the office address) and headed home instead, I watched it try and re-group with new routes as I climbed one of the tallest hills in San Francisco. Nothing threw it off. It just kept showing me other ways to get there and it was easy to skip looking at the map and trust the voice prompt instead. The Lady was back!
Bottom Line: I love this product. If you can get past the installation that will kill most mortals, then it is worth it. The level of detail in the maps including nearby businesses and attractions make driving fun again, and I can’t see how you would ever get lost.
Garmin GPS 18 USB
Garmin, Ltd
Hint: You can find it cheaper online. Try the European package for travel abroad as well as third party maps for more obscure places like Chile and South Africa. Where was this when I went to Cape Town….
4. Four Trends Worth Knowing About
If you aren’t visiting RealTechNews every day – and why on earth not?! Here are some highlights that are worth your while. We are posting seven days a week and I am always trying to keep the mix timely, technical and interesting.
–Power Over Ethernet or PoE as its called is getting even more popular.
–Microsoft’s Upcoming Longhorn OS is a Major Disappointment
–Identity Theft Comes Mostly from Secret Code Hidden in a Credit Card’s Magnetic Strip. You have to read this one.
–Bizarre New Search Engine: Wondir.com. Type a question and a live person answers you in seconds via an instant message window. Freaky.
Want More?
5. Alice’s Radar
My next project is something I have already kicked off. I decided to take the plunge and try satellite radio. I’ve already ordered my unit from Sirius but got an email a few days ago telling me my radio was on back order. It was supposed to get here early this week at the latest. Boo.
So stay tuned. Much to report on in terms of reception, antenna positions, working in home and office, and so on.
You can read part one here:
Taking the Plunge
6. A Sally Struthers Moment (Please read)
If you don’t know Sally Struthers, she was one of the first faded celebrities who tried to
do good deeds but came off a tad too needy with her “won’t you please…..” pleas for money. I think of her because this is something I do NOT want to become. But here’s the reality. This newsletter if it was paid for by a professional website or magazine would have just earned me about $1,800, or roughly my mortgage. This is not a small thing.
When you write for free you essentially throw yourself at the mercy of your readers, which is horrifying to have to do, but something I am hoping you will help out with. I am asking that if you like this format and the website, which I keep independent of sponsors or any conflict of interest. if you like the mix of hands-on information and trends and good old fashioned ranting, then I hope in the words of old Sally that you’ll do the impossible – make a donation for this content and to help me build the best tech website ever.
I am asking for $25 which is astronomical compared to a magazine or website, but you’ll also be directly help keep a voice unique and a website and newsletter something truly shaped by us all. I answer my email personally and I am building something real from the ground up. Please make it possible. You have no idea what it would mean.
says: 