Sunday, July 20, 2008
Zoho Spreadsheet
I have spent the last couple of weeks using Zoho Spreadsheets to keep a couple lists. I wish I had a more calculation demanding sheet to try, but I have not had an application recently.
If you are not familiar with Zoho, it is a collection of online applications including spreadsheet, word processor, and many more. It is similar to Google Docs, but has many more applications.
If you are keeping simple lists such as expenses or such the spreadsheet application works well. One complaint that I could offer is the ability to freeze header rows. This can be done in Excel as well as Google Docs spreadsheets. A review of the forums finds that many users have requested the feature. It seems as though the design team is unable to add the feature without a major code change.
One advantage that Zoho has over Google Docs is auto complete of cells. Excel and Zoho both will complete a cell if the information that you type is the same as a cell in the same column. At one time Google Docs had auto complete, but it was disabled by user request in May '08. I am unsure why it was causing problems for some, but Google is trying to bring it back as an optional feature.
As I continue to use the Zoho suite of applications, I will keep the blog updated with my experiences.
Update: Ramesh explains freezing headers...
If you are not familiar with Zoho, it is a collection of online applications including spreadsheet, word processor, and many more. It is similar to Google Docs, but has many more applications.
If you are keeping simple lists such as expenses or such the spreadsheet application works well. One complaint that I could offer is the ability to freeze header rows. This can be done in Excel as well as Google Docs spreadsheets. A review of the forums finds that many users have requested the feature. It seems as though the design team is unable to add the feature without a major code change.
One advantage that Zoho has over Google Docs is auto complete of cells. Excel and Zoho both will complete a cell if the information that you type is the same as a cell in the same column. At one time Google Docs had auto complete, but it was disabled by user request in May '08. I am unsure why it was causing problems for some, but Google is trying to bring it back as an optional feature.
As I continue to use the Zoho suite of applications, I will keep the blog updated with my experiences.
Update: Ramesh explains freezing headers...
Thanks Curtis for trying out Zoho Sheet and writing about it. We will definitely support freeze headers. We have already started on the alternate design, and it would be better to do the implementation in the new design. The new design will give more excel-like experience as well as save us duplicate effort.
Keep using Zoho and get back to us support at zoho dot com for any assistance.
Labels: Excel, Google Docs, Office, spreadsheet, zoho
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Car Charger Eliminator
As cell phones have included more utility including web surfing and email reading it is becoming more difficult for the ever-shrinking batteries to keep pace. That is why we are always forced to purchase yet another car charger when we upgrade to a new handset. Their some help on the way, though.
Many handset manufacturers are beginning to offer stand mini-USB charging ports. This standardization is welcome in that it can ostensibly lower the number of chargers lying around. Navigation unit manufacturers also seem to hopping onto the band wagon along with some MP3 player producers. This trend also makes it possible to charge your devices on the road with a notebook computer. That is great if you have ever tried to find an outlet in a hotel room. There is nothing like dragging furniture around a hotel room to find an outlet, and then forgetting the out-of-view adapter.
I have found a handy, low-cost addition for the car that makes the task even easier. This adapter from Amazon actually adds a couple of USB port outlets. This way you can charge USB cord charging devices without the need for a special car charger. One device that comes to mind is the Apple iPod. They use a USB port to charge, but you must use the Apple supplied connector. The cost is low, and the installation is very easy.
Many handset manufacturers are beginning to offer stand mini-USB charging ports. This standardization is welcome in that it can ostensibly lower the number of chargers lying around. Navigation unit manufacturers also seem to hopping onto the band wagon along with some MP3 player producers. This trend also makes it possible to charge your devices on the road with a notebook computer. That is great if you have ever tried to find an outlet in a hotel room. There is nothing like dragging furniture around a hotel room to find an outlet, and then forgetting the out-of-view adapter.
I have found a handy, low-cost addition for the car that makes the task even easier. This adapter from Amazon actually adds a couple of USB port outlets. This way you can charge USB cord charging devices without the need for a special car charger. One device that comes to mind is the Apple iPod. They use a USB port to charge, but you must use the Apple supplied connector. The cost is low, and the installation is very easy.
Labels: Amazon, cell phone, USB
Friday, July 11, 2008
iPhone 3G Release Day
In spite of the great reviews for the new iPhone 3G, the first day is not going well. AT&T is blaming Apple software problems, and Apple is blaming AT&T server infrastructure for failures to activate the new phones.
You can follow the news live on twitlive.tv
You can follow the news live on twitlive.tv
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Free Tech Support from Microsoft
Microsoft is growing concerned about the reception that Vista is getting with businesses. Needless to say, businesses are not jumping onto the Vista band wagon. Matter of fact, I do not personally know any business with more than one employee which has begun implementing Vista.
To get the ball rolling, Microsoft is offering free telephone technical support for small businesses that purchase a new computer with Windows Vista Business or Vista Ultimate installed. The purchase must be made between July 1st and September 30th of this year. The Windows Vista "Small Business Assurance" technical support program will offer support through October 31st.
What is a small business. For the sake of this program, Microsoft considers you small if you have 50 or fewer employees or 25 or less computers. It is unsure how Microsoft will validate those figures.
I am unsure if this alone will help Microsoft. The last thing that small business people want to do is wait on hold for a Microsoft tech support person. They want the machine fixed so that they can get on with business. I think that just the stoppage of selling Windows XP back on June 30th will give Vista a push. There are far fewer options for those that want to stick with XP. The only three options for obtaining Windows XP at this point are buying an ultra-mobile notebook, purchasing a system builder version, or buying a computer with an XP rollback.
To get the ball rolling, Microsoft is offering free telephone technical support for small businesses that purchase a new computer with Windows Vista Business or Vista Ultimate installed. The purchase must be made between July 1st and September 30th of this year. The Windows Vista "Small Business Assurance" technical support program will offer support through October 31st.
What is a small business. For the sake of this program, Microsoft considers you small if you have 50 or fewer employees or 25 or less computers. It is unsure how Microsoft will validate those figures.
I am unsure if this alone will help Microsoft. The last thing that small business people want to do is wait on hold for a Microsoft tech support person. They want the machine fixed so that they can get on with business. I think that just the stoppage of selling Windows XP back on June 30th will give Vista a push. There are far fewer options for those that want to stick with XP. The only three options for obtaining Windows XP at this point are buying an ultra-mobile notebook, purchasing a system builder version, or buying a computer with an XP rollback.
Labels: Microsoft, Vista, Windows, Windows XP
Monday, July 7, 2008
10,000 Laptops Lost Every Week
That's right. I wrote 10,000 laptops every week. Engadget has a story about the recent study. That is a lot of data. All I can see is really strong passwords and whole disk encryption.
Labels: laptop, passwords, portable, security
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Jungledisk Upgrade and Additional Services
We have reviewed the first version of the Jungledisk online backup solution. I was impressed with initial implementation of this online backup solution, and I like the additional services introduced by Jungledisk.
Jungledisk Plus. This addition to Jungledisk allows you to resume the backup of large files if the backup is interrupted. The plug option also allows you to backup only the changed portion of large files. This is invaluable with Exchange data files. The cost for Jungledisk Plus is $1.00 per month.
Jungledisk Workgroups. This solution is designed for small businesses and groups of distributed workers. You can create a centralized storage bucket as well as private areas with user privileges. This would allow everyone in a company to backup data to a central storage area, and files can be shared among selected coworkers. The cost for Jungledisk Workgroups is $2.00 per user per month.
I am looking forward to experimenting with Jungledisk Workgroups. I am unsure about the implementation of this system, and I need some first-hand experience to appreciate it.
Jungledisk Plus. This addition to Jungledisk allows you to resume the backup of large files if the backup is interrupted. The plug option also allows you to backup only the changed portion of large files. This is invaluable with Exchange data files. The cost for Jungledisk Plus is $1.00 per month.
Jungledisk Workgroups. This solution is designed for small businesses and groups of distributed workers. You can create a centralized storage bucket as well as private areas with user privileges. This would allow everyone in a company to backup data to a central storage area, and files can be shared among selected coworkers. The cost for Jungledisk Workgroups is $2.00 per user per month.
I am looking forward to experimenting with Jungledisk Workgroups. I am unsure about the implementation of this system, and I need some first-hand experience to appreciate it.
Labels: backup, Jungle Disk
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