I have a new project. In fact, I’m always getting involved in new projects. But I’m no expert in project management, and sometimes I make some truly stunning errors because of it. For example, there was the time I actually believed one of my staffers when he said he expected we’d be able to launch the new version of the Web site in a week — which I duly announced to a panel of executives without first confirming with my own eyes. Surely, you’ve never performed that kind of gaffe!

I suppose I could buy myself a copy of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge in print and spend the next year of my life reading through it when I’m tucked into bed. (Let’s just say, it would give me a chance to catch up on my sleep.)

Or I could attend a week-long seminar to learn all there is to know about leading successful projects. But I’m not sure my spouse would survive that long on her own in the company of our five-year-old.

That’s why I’m thinking about spending $20 or so and buying myself a copy of Scrappy Project Management. It looks highly readable:

“The Moose is Not Loose. Scientists tracking the migratory behavior of moose asked some engineers to design and build a satellite receiver/transmitter for them. When it was ready, the researchers fitted it into a collar that would fit around a moose’s neck. They stealthily crept out of their camouflaged den, tranquilized and tagged the object of their scientific desires, then scurried back to their observation post. They patiently waited and watched, but the blip on the radar screen showed no movement. Moose were known to be highly territorial, but the researchers were still a bit surprised at how very small their territory seemed to be. They finally went to check on their reclusive hoofed mammal, only to find him dead in the very same spot where they first attached the tracking collar.

“Cause of death? The transmitter weighed so much that the animal was unable to stand while wearing it. Aghast, the scientists went to the engineers, exclaiming, ‘You killed our moose!’ to which the engineers replied, ‘What moose?’ They were oblivious to the fact that their product was going on a moose’s neck. Yes, this really happened.”

Best of all, it’s 156 pages with BIG margins. Don’t worry, boss. I’m on it! That deadline is mine.
 

Just about my ideal mobile computing device is this Ultra Mobile PC from Sony, the Sony VAIO VGN-UX180P Micro PC. It is not much larger than a handheld computer, and weighs just over a pound, has an integrated sliding backlit keyboard, 4.5 inch Widescreen Display, Bluetooth, 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi and two cameras (a 0.3 megapixel camera facing the user for webcam use, and a 1.3 megapixel camera facing the other way for use as a digital camera). For security, there is a fingerprint reader. This UMPC has an 1.2GHz Intel Core Solo ultra-low-voltage CPU, 512MB RAM, a 30GB Hard drive and runs Windows XP Professional.

Unfortunately, it costs around $1000 new, and reviewers and users alike complain that the keyboard is less than ideal and the battery life is poor. They also say it should run the tablet edition of Windows to make the touch screen more useful.
All I can say to this is that nothing is perfect. To me this seems like Sony has taken their old Clie line of PDAs and re-invented them as fully fledged PCs.

The latest version of the Sony VAIO UX series, the Sony VAIO UX390, has 1GB of RAM and a 32GB solid-state hard drive and runs Windows Vista Business Edition. It also costs around $2000. For that price you could get a decent laptop and a smartphone, but they would weight a lot more than this Sony UMPC.

It took me a long time to finally move onto Skype, but now I don’t know how I worked without it. Sure, I still rely on my ol’ land line for in-country calls, especially the ones where I need to record interviews for stories I’m writing. It’s just plain reliable. But this afternoon, I needed to talk with the author of Scrappy Project Management, who happened to be in Hiroshima for a few weeks consulting with some of her clients, and Skype was the way we talked.

But what about those times when I don’t want to turn on my computer? Maybe I’d start using Skype for my personal calls and dump my pricey long-distance service.

That’s why I’m considering offline Internet telephony — and here’s the phone I think I could use to help me achieve it. It’s from Philips, and it goes by the memorable moniker, VOIP0801. (Probably by the time I post this, the company will have upgraded its model.)

The idea is that the phone display shows whether somebody’s online or not, and you can use the same device for regular landline calls along with voice over IP calls. If you set up the right kind of Skype account, you can also get a phone number to hand out so that people without Skype can call you too.

Pretty soon, this cheapskate will have no excuse for not calling — um, Skyping — her mom every week.

That was my first reaction when I first saw the acronym SDHC. I knew SD meant Secure Digital, which is a type of Flash memory card like the Compact Flash Card or the Sony Memory Stick. Apparently, the acronym SDHC means Secure Digital High Capacity. Since Secure Digital Cards are used in devices as diverse as PDAs, Digital Cameras and Camcorders, Gaming Consoles like the Sony PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii, and even MP3 Players it is important to know whether your devices supports SDHC.
This is especially so since SD and SDHC Cards look physically alike:

If I was to buy the Kingston 8GB SDHC Memory Card, thinking that I could add 8 GB to my Palm TX I would have a problem – the Palm TX does not support SDHC cards. I could use the Kingston 2GB Secure Digital Card on a Palm TX, but not a 2 GB SDHC Card.

The reason is that SDHC cards use a different memory addressing method than standard SD Cards. SDHC cards only work in SDHC compatible devices, but standard SD cards work in both SD and SDHC devices.

To try to clarify which devices work with which Card, SanDisk has a website: SanDisk SDHC, which lists SDHC Compatible Devices. Of course since this is a SanDisk website, SanDisk Cards are recommended. For more neutral information, the SD Card Association has a webpage about SDHC Memory Cards.

If you wish you had two monitors on your desk at the same time to handle different functions on each, you’ll want to know about a new kind of technology that will soon be making its appearance — thanks to a little known Korean company called E-Detail. No doubt, the idea will crop up in other products soon. What they appear to specialize in dual displays.

The Multi Web Pad is a tablet PC that offers two displays, one standard sized and the other, well, dinky. The specs are pretty standard for a non-professional PC: an AMD CPU, Windows XP Home Edition (an odd choice for a machine that could easily be used for work), 512K RAM and a built-in webcam.

But having those two monitors built in is a boon. Imagine those situations where you have to crane your neck to see somebody’s display while they talk you through a demo of something at work. This way, they can flip a monitor around for you to watch. Or, if you participate in a project where the team is remote, you can view the webcam showing teammates on the mini-monitor while doing your note-keeping or wiki updating on the other.

Wacky USB powered toys really don’t appeal to me, and yet my desktop computer at home just doesn’t seem to have enough USB 2.0 ports. With only 4 USB ports I find a USB hub a necessity. A shared printer takes up one port (I just don’t print enough to justify a network printer), an APC UPS another port and a cradle for my Palm the third. On top of that I still need to plug in an external hard drive and have a spare port for a a USB Flash drive.

To maximize the number of available ports I use a Belkin TuneSync USB Hub. That way I have a dock for my iPod, and four extra USB 2.0 ports (It uses one port).

Its one weakness – from a user review by agnelors: “Could be a little smaller”.
It is a bit large, so I keep it on top of my Desktop computer tower, instead of on my desk where space is at a premium. Of course a USB Hub without a iPod Dock would be smaller.

For laptops a more portable solution would be a USB Thumb Hub like the Belkin Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Thumb Hub.

I just cranked up my Epson PictureMate Personal Photo Lab inkjet printer for the season to do some holiday photos to include with cards I’m sending out. A friend had bought a new digital camera last summer, and the camera shop where he got it wouldn’t let him leave without toting one of these along. Since he’s a totally digital guy, he passed the printer along to me. And I love it.

Before having this puppy in my life, printing out 4×6 photos on my other printers was typically an exercise in terror. Would I get the paper in the right way? Would the sheet twist in the process of printing and come out with my once-in-a-lifetime vacation shots at an angle? Would the ink smear while I was pulling it off the tray? Why was this a nightmare for me? Photo paper and ink is pricey, and I’m a true cheapskate. Anything that wastes either of those two items makes me shudder.

Lots of other folks like their PictureMate too, so I culled through reviews and picked up a few cool tips that I’m sharing here.

Gavinldc writes that the family takes their PictureMate “with us to family gatherings [to] print photos on the spot. No computer needed, just a digital camera or even just the memory card from the camera…”

Tonytang from Illinois writes, “I prefer to print in the “enhance find details” mode to get an even sharper print. Although this mode is much slower than the regular mode, I can see the difference in sharpness.”

Alfmalmac from Ohio writes, “If you print from the desktop, the Epson driver will still somewhat crop your picture… because the printer driver increases the size of the print to allow for sloppy alignment and the edges of the photo are oversprayed (printed off the edge of the paper) when borderless is selected… There is a workaround. Just add a border of about 15 pixels before you print. The driver will remove the border and [do] no additional cropping of the picture..

Seanmcr6 shares this tip: “…The print cartridges provide at least 135-140 prints, especially if you print with white borders, which I do.” He adds, “I have had 4 clogs since I’ve owned it. 2 cleaning cycles each time resolved the issue. Small waste of ink, but in the grand scheme of things, not expensive at all.”

This Christmas I was going to get a Desktop computer. I had been planning for it since March. However, I was enticed by another gadget. Of course I had to make a choice between the gadget or the Desktop Computer. I couldn’t get both as the gadget is rather expensive, although nowhere near the price of a computer. So, despite common sense, the gadget won. What is it? A secret until Christmas of course. So the Desktop Computer is being delayed for a another special occasion.

As for the Desktop Computer, I was looking at a Dual Core Pentium with between 3-4 GB RAM, a discreet graphics processor (as I need to do a fair amount of video processing), a hard drive of at least 250-300GB, and a 17 inch LCD Monitor . Something like a customized Dell Inspiron 530 Desktop or HP Pavilion A6250t Desktop.
For the Operating System, I would like to have the option of running Windows Vista later - but probably run Windows XP initially until Vista Service Pack 2 is released. The reason for this is that I have heard of so many problems from people using Vista, mainly stability issues.

Instead, for my current Desktop Computer, I’m hoping to upgrade the RAM to 2GB from 512MB to tide me over, but I’ll leave the Operating System at Windows XP.

I’m always amazed at how uncomfortable the earbuds are that I get with my various devices — and how comfortable they can be when they come from a third-party and you spend a lot of money to buy them.

That’s why I’d love to try out the Plantronics .Audio 480 USB Virtual Phone Booth. (Yes, that’s a period before the word “Audio.” Apparently, the; new: new thing is to add punctuation whenever! and wherever? it …suits!!)

The company says using this device “is like having a private, portable oasis of sound while you’re traveling. Listen to music, watch movies, or make Internet calls from your laptop without distraction. A noise-canceling microphone lets callers hear you clearly. In seconds, simply stow the headset and be on your way.”

These are Mac and Windows USB-compatible, so if you lack that kind of port because you have an antique notebook, you’re out of luck. And I’m a bit concerned about that microphone. It’s on a boom that’s like a stiff piece of wire, which means it may be susceptible to kinks if you’re not careful with it. (The package includes a carrying case that resembles something you’d use for eyeglasses.)

But there are some perks. You get small, medium and large caps for the earbuds, which means you can pick the right fit for your petite ears vs. being forced to use the same size as some guy named Lenny who works in Engineering and just happened to get that particular part of the design work for the product.

Ah, well, maybe Santa will be kind to my ears this Christmas…

When is a computer a computer? I am not going to go into a long geeky discussion, so it is safe to carry on reading. Just think about it, most modern cellphones (and I’m not even referring to smartphones) have as much computing power as early Personal Computers.

The smallest computer I have owned was a Palm-OS based PDA watch, which had a 66 MHz Processor, 8 MB RAM and a touchscreen interface.

Of course, the latest generation gaming consoles like the Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation 3 are really powerful computers.

For a different take on a computer, there is an add-on to the GP2X gaming console. The GP2X is a Linux-based GP2X gaming console, and its latest iteration includes a touch screen. It is not really much of a competitor to the Sony PSP or Nintendo DS Lite, but more of a platform to play open source games. You can also listen to music or watch videos on the GP2X, and it comes with an Software Development Kit. The thing which really makes it even more versatile is the “Gp2x Commercial Interface Board Cradle”, basically a cradle which supplies several ports, including four USB ports.

That way you can plug in a USB keyboard, for example the Kensington Comfort Type USB Keyboard, and a mouse and you can call it a computer.