2007.06.06 \\ Forum added…finally!
The last week has been slow as I’ve been furiously doing a data migration by integrating the original Sony TR World forum into this site. I actually started planning this over 2 years ago but I didn’t have the time to do the move or plan the data migration. Over time, the move became really necessary because the phpBB software I was using was so prone to be attacked by site spammers that I was spending so much time cleaning out bad messages and user accounts.
Even with some time freed up and some careful planning, I knew it was going to be a lot of work; however, it ended up being even more difficult than I imagined. There was lots of data massaging I had to do to get most things working. The end result is the new forum section on the site! All of the old forum posts now automatically map to the new, more easily readable urls so Google and other search engines should pickup on it soon. If you register on the forum then you can more easily leave comments for postings and reviews. I’ll get to cleaning up the front page with forum information and account info in the next round of updates.
I also spent a lot of time optimizing the site so it should be loading a little bit faster than before. Performance was killing me as it was difficult to update the site when developing on the live server. Hopefully, it’s fast on your end.
I’m almost finished collecting data for my Nike+ vs. Sony S2 Sports review so that should be interesting to read. It’s been an interesting experience switching back and forth between products. By interesting I mean frustrating since getting used to different interfaces has been maddening. Anyways, expect by next week and check your feeds!
2007.05.28 \\ When good software goes bad…
For the past eight years, I’ve been a devoted user of Ahead’s Nero Burning ROM program. Back in 1999, the king of DVD burning software was Adaptec’s Easy CD Creator which I used. However, I didn’t like it because it was quickly becoming bloatware with Adaptec trying to tack on feature after feature and the program became less stable over time. Around that time I became award of Ahead Software’s Nero Burning ROM software which was a bare bones burning software that was rock solid. What ultimately sold me on it was that it was the first burning software that was compatible with my Firewire-based DVD burner and I have been using it ever since. I started with version 4.0 and have steadily upgraded to every version including the most recent version 7.x Ultra.
Over the years, Nero has added tons of features as “value adds” on top of their already solid burning software. Unfortunately, this has led to feature bloat with the latest incarnation of the software weighing just over 200MB. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind getting new features for “free” but I feel like the software has lost some of the charm that it used to have. Also, I’m not a fan of the install options where the program will try to install everything and change all your file associations without asking you.
Case in point. Tonight I decided to run Nero Update and was notified there were updates. Typically, I manually download the new install file because every time I’ve tried to upgrade my current install, Nero’s installer will hose my current installation leaving me with a non-working Nero install. This has happened ever since the new Nero ProductSetup was introduced. Tonight, I decided to give it another chance and let it attempt to upgrade my current setup. Amazingly, the updates installed without a hitch and the process actually finished. However, I was not pleased when I rebooted my system.
Read more.
2007.05.25 \\ Sony Ericsson W850i reviewed!
It took way longer than expected but the Sony Ericsson SE W850i Walkman Phone is now up. There’s a lot of information so enjoy. I tried to keep it more focused on actually usage than a full description of every possible feature since the phone does so much.
Next up, I’ll probably do some quickie reviews on simpler products while I finish up my big comparison article on Sony’s S2 Sports Walkman and Apple iPod nano/Nike+ combination. On deck is a review of Plantronic’s Discovery 655 Bluetooth headset, Sony’s S705 Walkman, and some interesting software that I use everyday.
Thanks and have a great weekend!
