On a scale of 1 to 10, more people should really be backing up their hard drives.

You know you should.  We all know we should, but most of us rarely do.  If you go into a room of 10 people and ask: “Do any of you back up your hard drives?”, usually only 2 or 3 people will raise their hands.  If you ask a followup question: “Have any of you ever lost data or had a catastrophic hard drive failure?”  I’ll lay down a bet that the same 2-3 people raise their hands.  My friend Jeremy likes to say that “people don’t like to think about loss – it’s depressing, and our minds just don’t want to go that direction.”  I agree.  Most of the time it takes a severe loss of data to make someone a true believer when it comes to data backup and redundancy.

To fight that apathy, I am making September “Back It Up” month on 1to10reviews.  This month’s posts will all be related to storage solutions, data backup, and other related topics.  This will cover the gamut from:

- cloud-based storage solutions like Box.net

-to external HDD (Hard Disk Drives) from companies like Seagate and Maxtor

- and heavy-duty solutions like RAID, NAS (network attached storage) boxes and DROBO

Many people in September will be thinking about back to school.  Folks in Quahog are starting to worry about those damn leafers from New York.  But here on 1to10, we’re going to explore the depths and variegated folds of that tortured terrain called data backup and storage. If you have comments, objections, personal horror stories or other ideas to contribute (things you’d like us to review) let us know.  You can comment on a post, or email us at: david [AT] 1to10reviews [DOT] com

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I use Mac Mail.  Not because it’s the best mail client of all time, but because it’s better than most of the other ones I’ve tried on the Mac (Entourage [which is Outlook for the Mac], Thunderbird, Zimbra).  They have major issues.  Mail has the best search, and does a good enough job with everything else.  The attachment issue (it frequently shoves whole docs or picutres into the mail itself) is annoying, but not a big deal to me. But there has been one persistent, annoying, frustrating, stupid issue I couldn’t get past.  Hyperlinking.

Every mail client in the known Universe, even the ones on Arrakis, let you use a simple keystroke to hyperlink to a website within an email.  But not Mac Mail.  It’s such a basic, obvious feature, and something I need to do in virtually every email I send.  And instead of a quick keystroke, I have highligh, edit, link, add link, type link, hit OK.  Every time.  Stupid.

But Andrew just showed me the solution. Many of you probably think it’s obvious, just add a keystroke in sys pref.  Others probably say “Why didn’t you just Google it.”  Well maybe you’re right, I should have figured it out earlier.  But now Andrew has made my world a little better for me, and I appreciate it (and him.)

If you want to be able to create hyperlinks in Mac Mail, look here.  For those who don’t want to click, here’s the easy steps:

1. Open “System Preferences” (from the “Apple” symbol in the top left)
2. Select “Keyboard & Mouse”
3. Select “Keyboard Shortcuts” (third tab, right side top)
4. Click the + symbol to add a new shortcut
5. From dropdown, select “Mail.app”
6. In Menu title type: “Add…”  (no quotes)
7. Assign a keystroke shortcut (I chose Command L)

That’s it.  Quit Mail (if it’s open) and then re-open it.  You should now be able to assign hyperlinks in Mac Mail with keyoard shortcuts.  Thank you Andrew.

BTW, if it doesn’t work, then Andrew is to blame.  FYI.

On a scale of 1 to 10, using keyboard shortcuts to assign hyperlinks in Mac Mail deserves a 10 out of 10.  El yay!

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Apple made landscape work in Safari; if you’re in the browser and have to type (in the URL, or in a form) the keyboard pops up in landscape mode.  This means the keys are bigger, more widely spaced, and significantly easier to tap.  This is good usability.  In either SMS or email mode, I can only use the portrait keyboard.  This is poor usability.  Given the fact that the capability exists, I can’t see any reason not to make the functionality universally available.

Lots of people told me that I’d get used to the keyboard if I gave it enough time.  They were wrong.  It sucks.  It sucked a year and a half ago, and it sucks now too.  Hence my joy, my excitement, my joie de iPhone that Firemail exists.  Firemail is an application available in the App store that lets a user type emails with a landscape keyboard.  Lawdy lawdy, I thought the day would never come.  The folks at Conceited Software are to thank for this handy piece of code.  Let me do so now.  Thank you Conceited Software. Try not to let it go to your head. Pun intended.

Firemail demo on 12seconds.tv

Now, the mechanics of the thing are not entirely ideal.  In order to write these blessedly quick and easy to type emails, you have to load Firemail from your homescreen, not the email app.  When the app opens you will be able to compose a subject and message.  Once done with your composition you can save a draft (called a bookmark) or send to email.  This is great for writing a new email.  But what about replying to old emails?  That too is possible, here’s how:

• Open your email app
• Open an email
• Hit reply
• Hit the home button
• Open Firemail
• Draft your response
• Select “Send to Mobile Mail”
• Boom shaka laka.  Your email is now a reply to the email you were reading before.

I didn’t even know you could do this till I read a couple other reviews of this app.  iPhone Hacks put a great one together, and so did Ben Boychuck at Macworld.   Personally, I think it’s a very strong app, and it has a place on my homescreen.  I do wish it integrated a little more seamlessly with the iPhone email, but it’s a very solid app and allows me to do something that’s frustrated me since my very first week with the iPhone.

The app used to be free – it was free when I downloaded it a couple months ago.  Now they charge 99 cents for it, and I think it’s definitely worth that fee.   It turns iPhone email from something frustrating and terrible into something that’s reasonably not sucky.  If I were forced to give Firemail a numeric rating between 1 and 10, I’d call it a 7.

This post is also available at LIVEdigitally.

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eStarling makes several WiFi connected digital photo frames, and I’ve been playing with their Impact V for a bit.  I’m impressed.

From the moment you open the box, eStarling does a pretty good job holding your hand and making use of the frame pretty simple.  You have all the usual options for displaying pictures that past digital frames have lead us to expect, including memory card slots that accommodate a couple different card types (SD, MS, MMC.)  But what’s way more interesting to me is the wireless and social mechanisms for displaying pictures.

When you pull the device out of the box, a greeting card immediately invites you to plug in the frame and connect it to your wifi connection (beware: this frame is much cooler if you have a wifi network.)  Once you’re connected, the frame prompts you to visit their website and activate your account.  Once you do you will get an email address dedicated to your frame, and you (or your friends and family) can email pictures to your frame.  You can also log into your account on their website to upload pictures from your computer to your eStarling account – these will then appear on your frame (it took my pictures about 15 minutes to show up.)  One of the neatest features is the social component – you can link your frame to a variety of social websites and services, including Facebook, Flickr, Phtobucket, Picassa, Twitter (not sure about this one), YouTube and more.   In addition to these services, you can also subscribe to RSS feeds – popular ones like National Geographic or even a user-designated feed.  You can also post small videos to play on your frame if you so choose.

I did have some issues with some of the social services.  For instance, I linked my Flickr account to my eStarling frame.  It was a pretty simple, one-click connection which presumably links up eStarling’s service with Flickrs API.  Two issues presented themselves though:

1. After clicking through the Flickr to link up the accounts, instead of a “Success, awesome job, well done!” screen, I was presented with a page full of gibberish.  There was no message to tell me whether I had successfully linked the account.  I didn’t know for sure until photos started appearing on the frame.

2. When those photos did appear, they weren’t mine.  They were photos of friends mine, people to whom I am linked on Flickr.  But none of my own photos made it into the frame.  Now, I like my friends and all, but I don’t need their photos on my frame.  Whether it’s going to sit in my home, or in my parent’s home, I want my own pictures on my frame.

Ultimately I was forced to use the “custom RSS” feature and take my Flickr account’s own RSS feed and manually link that with my frame.  Even after doing that, only my most recent set (about 20 pictures or so) showed up on the frame.  I don’t really know how to pull specific sets or additional photos from Flickr into the frame.

The frame has an eight inch display (800×600 pixels) and the clarity is pretty darn sharp. (Any blurring in the images in this post is due to the photographer, not the frame.)  It’s a touch screen interface, and there are light-up touch screen buttons along the right side.  You must use the touch screen in order to connect to the wireless network, but almost everything else can be accomplished through eStarling’s web portal.   The touch buttons let you skip through photos, or jump back to menus to select specifc photos, or access settings for the frame.  But I found the touch buttons a little finicky to use – fortunately the included remote also allows you to control action on the frame.

Lastly, there’s packaging.  In the unboxing I discovered very little wasteful or non-recyclable material.  There was one small piece of closed-cell foam for padding, and a foam sleeve for the frame.  Everything else was cardboard, including the majority of the boxe’s padding.  5 gold stars for being conscious of the environment.

Overall I was impressed with the frame.  The picture clarity, the simple setup, and the social components were all fantastic.  I love that it’s wifi, and I dig the fact that I can update the photos remotely, up to and including if the frame is in another state (or country.)  However, I do think the web interface and tools need a little refinement.  They are feature-rich but lacking in the fine points of usability.  Some improvements could include better feedback to user actions (letting you know if you succeeded in linking an account), and better fine-tuning of services (to include / exclude friends’ photos, etc.)  They don’t need more options, they just need to refine and improve the ones they’ve got.

eStarling Wireless Digital Photo Frame on 12seconds.tv

Daniel Lim at Slashgear also wrote a nice review of this frame. If I were forced to give this frame a numeric rating, something which I am loathe to do, I would give it an 8 out of 10. They did a good job.  I just hope they keep improving the little sucker.

This post is also available on LIVEdigitally.

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On a scale from 1 to 10, 12seconds has done something really cool.

Today 12seconds.tv has done a few cool things:

1. They’ve re-designed their website – cool new look and feel, with a strong focus on video consumption
2. They’ve concluded their invite-only Alpha phase and opened up in a public Beta where anyone can register and use the site

3. They’ve had their iPhone application approved and launched in the iTunes App Store (for $0.99)

I’m happy for their progress from Alpha to Beta, and I think the re-design looks great.  But I’m most excited about the iPhone app.  You all know (both of you) that I’m an iPhone user, and one of my few frustrations with the device has always been the lack of a video recorder.  Apple steadfastly refuses to release one, and there’s no third-party video recording application available (unless you choose to jailbreak your phone.) This annoys me.

12seconds did not manage to sneak a video recorder through Apple’s QA team.  But they did create about the best possible workaround.  App users will take 3 photos (or choose 3 from their picture library), record twelve seconds of audio, and then post their creation to their 12seconds account (unregistered folks can create an account on the fly, in their phone.)  Somewhere in the cloud, the pics and audio are combined and then spit out as a twelve second video slideshow.  Users can email a link to their video directly from their phone  Each video has it’s own unique URL on 12seconds.tv, and can be emailed, embedded (as HTML) or downloaded onto your hard drive.  Here’s a demo of how the app works:

iphone app for 12seconds.tv from Sol Lipman on Vimeo.

One thing I really like about this app is the story telling aspect.  The series of pictures with audio narration really give you that James Earl Jones feeling of comfort.  Also, if you flub the audio and need to re-record, you can do so as many times as you like.  With traditional video, if you blow it, it’s blown.  The moment has passed.  Here’s one video I recorded with a trial version of the app:

Cold Cuts – Chinese Food Style on 12seconds.tv

The app is a first draft.  It works, and it’s intuitive, but there are some features I’d like to see added, including wanting better flexibility in choosing photos and saving drafts.  But on the whole I think the app is very usable.  There’s just room to improve.

Kudos to the 12seconds team on a great launch and a cool app.  This is the best solution to the video-recording conundrum that Apple’s created that I’ve seen yet.  If I were forced to give the iPhone app a numeric score between 1 and 10, I’d call it an 8

Related Posts:

MG Siegler at VentureBeat

Greg Kumparak at MobileCrunch

Rodney Rumford at Face Reviews

This post is also published on LIVEdigitally.

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I have an Xbox 360. When I heard about the new Xbox Live experience (new UI, new architecture, more features, more customization, etc.) I thought it sounded really cool. I’ve always thought it was a neat product, but I also thought there was a better interactive experience waiting to be enjoyed, if only someone would come along and develop it. Last Thursday, November 20, 2008, that experience became available for everyone.

One of the features I was most interested in was the Netflix streaming directly to your Xbox 360. I believe that digital home media have a long way to go. Networked media PC’s are a pain to set up, streaming media servers even more so, and Apple TV (even with Apple’s vaunted user-experience) isn’t an elegant or simple solution. But I have an Xbox 360, a computer (for all intents and purposes,) already hooked up to my television and with an HDMI connection.   Netflix streaming directly onto my TV? Sounds excellent.

I even resurrected a membership for this. I had Netflix a long time ago, and ended up canceling because I just didn’t get enough value from it. I get lots of movies from the Library (I know, laugh all you want, but’s it free) and I felt like I was always forgetting to return the Netflix discs and just throwing money away on the membership. So I canceled. But this Xbox partnership seemed like a good reason to renew the subscription, because of the ease, convneience, and my sheer exuberance at the prospect of streaming it right on to my Xbox. Then reality set in.

I just re-subscribed to Netflix, activated my account on the Xbox, and added (hang on) 39 movies to my queue. Thirty-nine movies. Of those, not one is available to stream the Xbox 360.  Not one.

Now that, my friends, is weaksauce.

And before you retort smartly, let me say that this is not just a bunch of brand new, extra fun movies.  Among others I have indies (Run, Fat Bot, Run – 2007), thrillers (Revolver – 2005), TV (How I Met Your Mother Season 1 – 2005), Action (Blade – 1998), Sci-Fi (Resident Evil: Extinction – 2007), and comedy (Forgetting Sarah Marshall – 2008) to name just a few.  There’s a good blend, in my opinion, of older and newer, hotter and less-hot choices in my list.  And none of them are available to stream.  That’s not acceptable.

After searching diligently I did finally find one movie, National Treasure 2, that was available for streaming to Xbox Live, and I wasn’t wholly opposed to watching it.  It worked flawlessly.  I’ve never watched any of the National Treasure movies, but my wife convinced me that I might like them, so I gave it a shot.  Truthfully, I enjoyed the movie.  Low expectations help a lot, and the history is a lot of fun.  But more importantly, the Netflix experience on the Xbox 360 was fantastic.  Moments after adding the movie to my queue, the Xbox Live page displayed it as available.  I asked to watch the movie, and in 15 seconds it was ready to go.  The picture quality was excellent, and the controls all worked perfectly.  I was REALLY satisfied with the experience of using Netflix.   Unfortunately, there’s not much for me to watch.

Netflix and Xbox have bragged that there’s a library of 12,000 shows to choose from and stream to your Xbox 360.  That’s not real helpful, if I don’t want to watch any of them.  I am sadly unimpressed, and if I were forced to give this a numeric rating between 1 and 10, right now it would get a 4.  I like the idea and the service worked well, but there’s no content I’m interested in seeing.  No bueno.

Some Related Stories & Links:

News 4 Gamers

Gizmodo

CNET News

Tom’s Guide

——————————————————-

Update 11/30/08:

I’ve been thinking about this situation some more.  Jivebotic and Wunder both left very good comments (on 1to10) about what movies are available, and the benefits of the Xbox / Netflix experience.  I agree with both of them.  The way I see it, there are two major problems:

1. There’s still not enough good content available on the Xbox.  Jivebotic pointed out some good movies that I can watch, sure enough.  But they’re still not the ones I want  to watch.  I don’t know why that rubs me the wrong way, but it does.  Out of 40 or so movie titles that I want to watch, I should have been able to find a couple that were available.   For me, there was not one.  

2. Netflix needs to add some kind of serach and identification mechanism, and that right quick.  Currently they do identify their “instant” titles, but there are 4 or 5 different “instant” mechanisms for streaming movies, and not all titles are available for all mechanisms.  I need a way to search for Xbox-compatible films, they need to visibly tag those films with an Xbox logo, and they need to quickly add more titles if they want to keep my business.  

This post is also available on LIVEdigitally.

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Wait, hold on.  Let me explain.

While on Facebook, I saw an advertisement related to rock climbing.  I like rock climbing.  So I said to myself: “Why don’t you check that out.”  The ad suggested that the advertisers in question were seeking Beta testers to check out their new rock climbing-based social network.  I then thought to myself: “You’re on a social network right now.  Maybe this one would be cool too.”

So I clicked.  I was taken to a site offering me a free T-shirt to become a beta tester.  Interesting.  Not great.  Just interesting.  That’s a pretty old-fashioned marketing technique for a web 2.0-style site.  But hey, I wear t-shirts all the time.  And clearly these guys are not appealing to Twittering tech geeks (at least, not unless they also climb rocks.)  They are going after a niche (technically, it will have to be a niche within a niche, those who like rock climbing, and who also frequent the internet / social networking world.)  So, they decided to throw some marketing dollars into it.  I sort of get that – I guess.  I mean, they are going after a tough to reach audience.  Kinda.

What really threw me for a loop was the scammy, “sign up for 2 or more credit cards” advertisement I was shown right after I signed up for the Beta.  I gave them my info (email, DOB, gender, the basics), hit submit, and was immediately shown an advertisement displaying an awesome package deal of rock climbing gear, as long as I sign up for at least 2 services, for a fee of no more than $5.  Super ghetto.  Giant turn off.  Totally inappropriate.

I just find the whole thing frankly weird.  Are they trying to make ad money already?   On the signups to the private Beta they haven’t finished offering?  They’re throwing money away on the one hand (paying for ads they don’t really need,) and then trying to re-coup it in a totally inappropriate way on the other (serving creepy, spam ads.)  Here’s what I don’t understand:

• Crankjam is advertising on facebook for beta testers?  $$$
• Crankjam is giving away a free t-shirt for beta testing?  $$$
• Crankjam is pushing credit card schemes (and netflix memberships) after Beta signup?  Too weird.

Now I’m not just trying to be a pill here.  I like rock climbing.  And I like social networking.  I think it could be a great site.  I just don’t understand what they’re doing – seems like they’re robbing Peter to pay Paul.  Why are they buying ads on Facebook to recruit for their private beta?  More importantly, why are they serving spam ads right after.  Here’s some of the things I think they should be doing:

• Use free social media: Twitter, FriendFeed, FB fan pages, Jaiku, Pownce, Message Boards, Discussion Forums, make a funny video on Youtube, create a channel on 12seconds - there’s all kinds of social media and services with which to create community and market yourself.  The key here is to be active in the community, spend time there, follow people, listen to what they say, and make sure they know you’re a real person, not a spam bot.  Then ask them questions.  What do you think of this idea?  Do you know anyone who likes rock climbing?  Get some real market data, and recruit some real Beta testers.
• Partner up with other people – do a little Business Development.  Reach out to the admins at rock climbing forums and retailers – tell them you want to trade some ad space and partner up.  You’re creating a rock climbing social network.  They sell gear to rock climbers (or provide a locale for them to gather and share thoughts.)  It’s a good fit and a win-win situation.
• Contact University groups – every college campus in America has a rock climbing club, rock wall, rock gym, etc.  Every one of those groups has young people who like to climb, every one of which uses the internet on a daily basis.  That’s your target audience.  Recruit them.  Buy them pizza (instead of FB ads) and recruit there.

This is the news announcement they’ve issued, and there’s an excerpt below.  Crankjam is a mass producer of niche social networks based in Columbia, South Carolina.  Lifefitter in turn seems to be a product of another “incubator” called LoudDoor, also based in South Carolina.  Now, the Lifefitter guys seem to sort of “get it.”  They have a blog.  And they’re even writing some posts that express expertise and understanding of their space.  Kudos, that’s sincerely excellent.  They are creating a bunch of niched social networks, online communities for the outdoor (and technologically) minded.  Cool.  Personally I think Ning makes more sense, where existing communities can form their own online social network, but there’s a place for this product too.  It’s even a cool idea.

However, this spammy approach is creepy, up and down. It’s disconcerting.  If I had to give this a numeric rating, on a scale of 1 to 10, I’d call it a 2.  And that’s without ever getting a chance to see the product itself.  Purely based on the experience of finding and signing up for the Beta, I am truly uncomfortable.

New

Lifefitter to release CrankJam, a social network for rock climbers, in private beta.

Columbia, SC: Today, Lifefitter Networks announced CrankJam, a new social network dedicated to the rock climbing community. The site is accepting requests for invitations to the beta program and will be released in private beta within the next 45 days.

“Rock climbing is such an intense sport, it takes a lot of guts to go out and climb all over the world,” said General Manager Bobby Redfern.

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I love Bruce Springsteen.  And this song, I think, is nothing short of brilliant.  Please listen to it in my Box.net widget in the side bar.

First of all, let me say one thing.  Douche is not part of this song.

Bruce wrote this song in the early seventies, and it was first recorded on his album Greetings From Asbury Park N.J. in 1973.  It did not achieve broad commercial success.

Manfred Mann recorded the song in 1977, and that reached #1 on the pop charts (according to Wikipedia, “…Manfred Mann’s Earth Band recording of “Blinded by the Light” is still Springsteen’s only Number 1 single as a songwriter on the Hot 100.”

I think the writing and poetry in this song is tremendous.  The lyrics are outlandish and silly in a nearly Shel Silverstein-esque manner (Shel didn’t just write “Where the Sidewalk Ends” you know, he also penned “Boy Named Sue” [Johnny Cash] and “Cover of a Rolling Stone” [Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show.] among others.) Bruce’s lyrics are fanciful, fun and fantastic (in the “way out there” sense.)  They are evocative and as close to poetry as anything Bruce has written.  To me, this kind of writing puts him in the same class as Dylan and Simon.

I also love Bruce’s rendition of the song.  His vocals are at their scratchy best, and the musicianship is raw.  Powerful, and raw.

I can (and have) listened to this song on repeat, over and over again.  It leaves me happy, sad, curious, mystified, and sometimes a little maudlin.  Not really sure why.  But it’s evocative, and strong.  For me, this song is a solid 10 out of 10.  Not just because I love Bruce (which, as I said, I do) and not just becasue the lyrics are poetic and zany (which they are.)  This song is a 10 because it symbolizes freedom for me, every  single  time I listen to it.  It’s about the open road, about America, about living your life and be damned to the consequences.  This song kicks ass.

Afterthought:

Oh, and in case I wasn’t clear before, let me be abundantly so now.  I think Bruce’s version is infinitely superior to Manfre Mann’s.  Manfred Mann IS a douche.

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Steepandcheap.com is a website dedicated to offering super rad discounts on cool outdoor gear.  My expert internet sleuth Allison found this one.  The copyright on their “About” page says 2003-2004, but I am only seeing the site now.  They are “powered by” Backcountry.com.  I suspect they had a different format previously.  The guys at Chainlove (another BC.com site) posted something about this a couple months back.

Their tagline says: “One killer gear deal, one item at a time until it’s gone.”  I can’t argue, the deals so far have been killer.  Everything I’ve seen advertised is far below MSRP.  I picked up a Timbuk2 backpack yesterday that looked pretty nifty, at what seemed like a screaming price.  The signup and checkout process took me all of 35 seconds, which was great.  I was definitely impressed with the purchase and account UI.

They are also doing some pretty cool viral marketing, surprisingly nifty web apps that most traditional retailers don’t really get yet.  They offer a RSS alert system, and they allow you to share deals with friends not only via email, but on Facebookas well.  They show ads on the page, but they may as well squeeze every nickel that they can, especially since their margins can’t be high with discounts this steep.

The whole “one item till it’s gone” thing adds a definite sense of pressure and urgency to the system, and doubtless that’s why they do it.  It has an auction feel (a la Ebay) and also reminds me of Jellyfish’s Smack Deal of the day.  The difference here is that Steepandcheap doesn’t indicate how much time you have left, or how many items are available.  You are guessing until it’s gone.  But, the price doesn’t change either.  It is what it is.  It’s a GREAT deal on gear that sells until they’re sold out.  Artificially creating scarcity-based urgency is just good business.  My guess is that the items being sold are remaindered, unsold stock from Backcountry.

So why did I only give them a 7 out of 10 review?  Couple of reasons. For one, there’s no Paypal payment option.  I would like it better if there were.  And the RSS feeds, though really cool, seem to update slowly.  At the moment the most recent item in their feed (on my google reader) is the 4FRNT snow skis, and it says that it’s from 58 minutes ago.  That’s not the item currently on the site (A Merrell women’s jacket.)  In fact, it’s more than two items ago, because there was a watch on the site before the jacket came up.  RSS should be nearly real-time, and that’s important with a time-limited “buy till we sell out” mentality.

Also, and this is big deal, their pricing is inconsistent.  The backpack I bought was the Timbuk2 Track, and the listed MSRP on their site is $90.  SteepandCheap’s price was $44.38.  Any way you slice it that’s a great deal.  But the MSRP they listed during the sale was $150.00.  1/3 of the retail price sounds a LOT better than 1/2 of the retail price.  Truthfully, I did make an impulse buy based on the perception of scarcity without doing my research in advance.  I’m ok with that.  But I want them to play fair, and show the right prices.  I sent a question into customer service, see their answer down below.

The site is “powered by” Backcountry.com, a longtime online outdoor gear retailer, and winner of numerous online-shopping accolades.  Their internal blog, The Goat, has numerous references to the site starting as far back as December 2006.  I think they’re offering a potentially great service with Steepandcheap, and it is now on my regular stop-by list of shopping sites.  But I’d feel a lot better about doing business with them if I knew the prices were going to always be correct and consistent – I now feel suspicious about their offers.  Time will tell I suppose.   And no matter what, that RSS issue has got to get fixed.  For now, they get a 7 out of 10, even with killer prices.

———————————————————————————-

Here’s my question and their answer from their customer service rep:

Question:

Hi There,

I bought a Timbuk2 Track bag from you yesterday.  The suggested MSRP on your site

was $150, and you were selling it for $44.38. It sounded like a great deal, and I wasn’t

sure how long it would last, so I bought one on the spot.

Afterward, checking out the Timbuk2 site, I noticed that the packs are listed at $90 MSRP.

I still think I got a great deal, but it seems dishonest to post a higher MSRP than the

manufacturer really suggests.  If that was intentional, it artificially inflates the

discount you’re offering, and that seems wrong.  I’m not accusing, I’d just like some

clarification.  Why was the MSRP listed so much higher than what’s shown on the

manufacturers site?

Thanks,

David

Response:

Hi David,

Thanks for contacting us at Steepandcheap.com.

I do see the confusion, there has been many different versions of this pack, with very little physical differences and through the waves of shipments from Timbuk2 prices have changed.  The Black/ Black/ Black posted on SAC was purchased at a higher wholesale price than the packs posted on backcountry.com now.  MSRP had not been skewed to pump our number, but was actually $149.95.

If you have any additional questions or concerns, please feel free to let us know. Have a great day— we can’t wait to serve you up another killer deal at Steepandcheap.com.

Sincerely,

XXXXXXXX

Steepandcheap Gearhead

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Friends are at Under the Radar, presenting their companies and connecting with VC’s. Special mention to LOUD3R and Lowell Goss, who is poised to kick ass.

Check out the Ustream here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/utr08

Best of luck to Lowell and everyone else presenting at Under the Radar.

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Techmeme has added search capability to it’s news aggregation site.  The story broke on Techcrunch a few minutes ago.  Their exclusive was busted a few minutes later when Techmeme announced it themselves on their company blog / news page.

If you haven’t used Techmeme before, it’s a neat site for taking a overview look at what technology news is hot at the moment.  Techmeme aggregates news stories that are popular across the web.  Popularity is established according to a number of metrics, an important one being cross-linking.  The more inbound and outbound links in a story, the higher it rises on the Techmeme site.  The self-congratulatory Techmeme leaderboard has become a fashionable place for bloggers to feel good about themselves as well.  It’s not surprising that the news site who broke this news (Techcrunch) is also consistently number one on the leaderboard.

Techmeme does offer a neat look at what news is hopping, though it is sometimes criticized as a popularity contest.  It also is subject to gaming, as many bloggers make an effort to exchange links and push their own site / story onto the Techmeme homepage.

All that being said however, the search feature is really cool.  It’s a great opportunity to find hot stories on specific topics you want to research or analyze.  And it offers a very cool snapshot look at how popular a topic was at a given time.  Founder Gabe Rivera told us a long time ago that we should not hold our breath waiting for search on Techmeme.  I’m glad that he decided it was time to pull the trigger, and it’s a feature I will certainly use a lot.  9 out of 10, and thanks for the memories.

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I think Nancy Pelosi is a moron and a communist.

OK, that’s an overstatement, but I do think this bill is not the solution to the problem of illegal downloading and copyright infringement. Our friend Jeremy at LiveDigitally wrote an excellent post on this topic – you can find it here. While I don’t agree blindly with everything Jeremy has to say, I do agree with the gist of his argument.

Clearly lots of people are downloading music illegally.  Sending them to jail and / or fining them thousands of dollars to protect wealthy people whose rights are being “infringed” upon is not a good solution.  However, “80 million illegal downloaders can’t be wrong” is not a good enough reason (for me) as to why the law should be changed to make illegal downloading legal and free.

I think that the punishment needs to fit the crime. I do agree with him that large business, huge conglomerates, and fabulously wealthy musicians are not suffering egregiously from illegal downloading and copyright infringement. The only people I occassionally worry about are the starving, independant artists; I don’t want them to lose their meager royalties. But I would argue that they get at least as much benefit as loss from the downloading and trading of their proprietary work. All that distribution is probably a good thing.

I think sites like Amie Street which use a market driven structure to sell music legally, and at a very god price, make the most sense.  These benefit newer independant artists, and benefit the consumer.

Solutions aside, the people who create and own property have a right to see that property protected.  This bill does not protect their rights.  It punishes people without acknowledging the reality of the situation.  That reality being: technology is not going to go backwards, and publishers need to find a way to work with it, not use congress as a blunt instrument to beat up the people who pay their salaries.

In any case, I say write to your congressperson to oppose this bill.

And take a crap on Pelosi’s lawn next time you’re in San Francisco. Just don’t get caught.

The PRO IP Bill gets a 2.

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That’s right, a 1.

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This is an unusual blog post. Though I don’t normally use 1to10 for strictly personal posts (in terms of my daily life and routine) I am making an exception. Because I can. So a couple of posts here and there will basically be copy&pastes from mass emails to friends and family / journal entries from my time in New Zealand.

So, enjoy…

UPDATE:

I changed my mind.  Instead of the above, I will do mini-posts on the things I experience and observe while I’m here.  That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Hi Everyone,

Sorry for the mass email, but internet access in New Zealand is sort of sucky. It’s pretty much the only thing that sucks, so I’m not complaining, but it is hard to get any high-speed access. So I need to write as few emails as possible, and I can’t do a lot of picture sharing.

Allison and I got into Auckland around 5:00 AM on Thursday (NZ time.) We caught a 10AM flight to Queenstown, and started being official tourists around noon. We spent the day finding our hotel, and then walking into downtown Queenstown. The view from our room is incredible – Lake Wakatipu sits right in front of our window. It’s a huge lake surrounded by mountains in Central Otagou, the region where the Queenstown is set. We spent the afternoon wandering around, eating gigantic hamburgers at a place called Fergburger, drinking beer, and generally gawking at everything we saw. We brought some groceries and things back to our room on Thursday evening, along with a bottle of local wine, and then ended up passing out around 7:00 PM. I know, we’re weenies.

UPDATED

MY MINI REVIEW: 8

HE HOTEL WE BOOKED IS CALLED THE COLONIAL VILLAGE, AND IT IS AWESOME.  THE VIEW IS INCREDIBLE, AND THE OWNERS ARE SUPER NICE.  THE FIRST FEW NIGHTS WE WERE IN A BUDGET ROOM, BUT AFTER OUR TRAMP WE UPGRADED TO  A LUXURY APARTMENT, AND IT RULES.

THE PARKING LOT AND SIGN

THE VIEW FROM OUR BALCONY IN THE APARTMENT

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On Friday we got up around 6 AM, and wandered into town to have breakfast. After eating, we headed to a storefront right in downtown Queenstown on Shotover Street. The particular store front rents motorcycles, so Allison and I took a Harley Ultra-Glide and hired it for a half-day. We took the bike out and went wine tasting at a bunch of local wineries; Queenstown is known for their Pinot Noir. That was amazing and a lot of fun. We hit a couple of wineries for tours and tastings, then had lunch. In the afternoon after we brought the bike back, we did a little shopping for our first tramp which starts tomorrow. We had a big dinner at a restaurant called the Lonestar, drank some local beer and played pool in a pool-hall, and then hit the sack.

UPDATED

MY MINI REVIEW: 9

RENTING A HARLEY IN NEW ZEALAND WAS THE BEST THING WE COULD HAVE DONE.  BEAUTIFUL WEATHER, AND A GORGEOUS BRAND NEW ELECTRA GLIDE ULTRA.  THE BIKE WAS PERFECT,THE ROADS WERE WINDY AND FUN, AND THE WINERIES WERE PLENTIFUL ALONG THE WAY.  RIDING ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE ROAD IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT, BUT YOU GET USED TO IT FAST.  WE TOOK ROUTE 6 OUT OF QUEENSTOWN, THROUGH FRANKTON, AND ON INTO WINE COUNTRY IN THE CENTRAL OTAGO VALLEY.

COULDN’T HAVE BEEN BETTER.  THE FOLKS AT HARLEY TOURS ON SHOTOVER STREET IN DOWNTOWN QUEENSTOWN WERE FANTASTIC, ESPECIALLY JO, THE GAL WHO HELPED US OUT.

A DEFINITE 10.

ME AND THE WIFE

LOVING THE BIKE

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Today is Saturday, we have been touring around the city some more, doing some shopping and eating. We are sitting in a cafe right now – the only one with free Wi-Fi. Sadly, the connection is very slow. We will do some last minute food shopping, maybe do a hike or a walk somewhere, and then 8AM tomorrow we catch a bus to the Routeburn Track for our first backpack (tramp.)

So far we are having an amazing time. We’re taking lots of pictures, and if we ever get to a solid internet connection we’ll send some out. Otherwise we’ll share a bunch when we’re back in the states.

Love to you all.

David (and his wife Allison.)

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I waited in line with David. I felt like a nerd because I had spent part of another night with Kurt in a different line. For some reason I just wanted to wait in a line. I’m not sure why waiting in a line appealed to me. I just waited. In a line. I think maybe I waited in the line because everyone in the line was excited to be in the line.

Like the short, terse vibration of a new email on my iPhone, it hit me: why don’t I wait in more lines? I could be a line junkie. My brother waited in line for Return of the Jedi. He still talks about it. “That was awesome,” he regularly notes. “Yeah dude, that sounds rad,” I say back. What happens in these damn lines that make people so stoked?

Is it about hope? It’s like a prom date, but a sure thing. At the end of the line for the Apple iPhone I was going to get iLaid. I mean, is my life so lame that waiting in a line is the equivalent of getting laid on prom night? Holy shit, I’m depressed. I’m going to play with my iPhone now.

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Fireworks

My Review:7

Fireworks displays are a lot of fun.  On 4th of July they remind us (at least they’re supposed to) of the rockets red glare -  i.e. the bursts of cannon fire between the British and the Colonists during the war of independence.  But fireworks can also be trite, cliche, and sometimes uninspired.  Like anything I else I suppose you get a mixed bag.

Honestly my views this year (from 4th of July, 2007) are slightly colored; my truck was towed on Wednesday night because so many people flock to our neighborhood every year on the 4th. Correspondingly, parking enforcement is quintupled.  Or more.   It’s probably not fair to let my personal issues affect my review of Fireworks in general, but what the hell.  It really made me mad.  Almost lead to a fistfight.  Or rather, a beating.  I would have killed the guy.  Heh.

My favorite fireworks colors are white or gold.  Colors (especially greens, reds, blues, purples, etc.) are lame.  Well, not lame, but sometimes they just seem a little overdone.  In fact I was informed that because this is the special year of the Golden Pig (in Chinese tradition) which makes the gold fireworks extra special. 
We got some pictures, what do you think?

On the plus side fireworks are fun, and they do seem to engender this childlike excitement and wonderment in almost everyone.  Kids are so fun to observe during a fireworks display.  But all people seem to look up into the sky and just get lost a little bit in the moment.  This past 4th of July I spent a couple minutes toward the end of the display singing the national anthem softly to myself.  It did cause a “moment.”  It was nice.

Fireworks finales are also pretty fun.   The sudden rush of booms, pops, crackles, lights, sparkles, explosions and fun are great.  They’re just great.

I originally wanted to give fireworks a 5, because my car got towed.  But I need to get over it, and to some degree I have.  I now want to give fireworks a 7, because my bad experience shouldn’t ruin it for everyone else.   And fireworks are fun.

God, this was kind of a lame post.  I wouldn’t say that here, but most likely no one will ever read it anyway.

7.

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If you’re a man then you have hair on your ass. Some women also have hair on their ass usually in the form of peach fuzz (hopefully). I don’t have too much hair on my ass, but I’m a hairy guy and I, admittedly, have my fair share of ass hair. I’d love to tell you that I’m proud of my ass hair and that if you stood me next to other guys with some ass hair, my ass hair would stand out as particularly attractive ass hair. In fact, I’d love for my ass hair to be a source of pride. But, alas, it is not. Ass hair, in general, is just ass hair.

I have many times pondered, “what is the purpose of ass hair?” I’m sure you’ve wondered too. Luckily for the loyal readers of 1to10reviews, I have discovered the authoritative work on ass hair purpose.

Here’s a tidbit of what the following link contains:

“I performed the operation that night, with a cheap disposable razor and a
towel to sit on. Starting from the bottom, and shaving from the crack to the
cheeks, I began the arduous process of ridding my ass of hair.”

http://www.team-ninja.com/vbulletin/archive/index.php/t-10185.html

Based on this review, I give ass hair a solid 6.

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It’s big.  It’s salty.  Mostly it’s blue.  That’s right, I’m talking about the Pacific Ocean.  This is the largest of the 5 oceans in the world.  New Zealand and California share an ocean; they share it with Japan.  Sweet.  The Pacific Ocean has an area of 155.557 million square kilometers.  It is a big ass body of water.  Yet its highest point is still only sea level.

Seriously, there is fantastic surfing (I’ve been told) in the Pacific ocean, from Santa Cruz to Australia.  I’ve been in the Pacific Ocean in Hawaii, in California, in Washington State, in Fiji, in Mexico, and in some more places that I don’t remember.  I’ve caught at least 12 different kinds of fish (Mackerel, Barracuda, Marlin, Mahi Mahi, Blue Shark and Yellowtail being a few of them.)  Most of those we ate, so it’s cool.

The ocean is salty, so you should not drink it.   It is fun to swim in, but it is sometimes cold; especially if you live and swim in California. There will be more to come on the Pacific Ocean soon. So hang tight.

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It’s not often discussed, but Chafing sucks a lot. Let’s say you’re taking a hike. You’re excited because you don’t often get to hike. You sit in front of a computer and you want to reconnect to the outdoors. You start on your little hike and about 20 minutes into it the pain and irritation begins. Maybe it’s between your legs near your junk. Now, it hurts and you’re self conscious because you keep trying to readjust – put some fabric between the two irritated parts of your body. Some beautiful, fit woman runs by and you’re playing with your junk. It sucks.

Try this stuff, it works. Sports Shield.

Rub it all over your junk and feel like you just got lubed up for the big race. It’s got that roll-on ball on the top of it, it feels good. Real good.

Chafing = Bad. Lubrication = Good.

Have a good weekend.

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The Daily Reel is a cool… site, service, podcast? They are something of a content aggregator, sifting through lots of content on the web and using their site to let you know what you should be watching. Tens of people are sitting in Los Angeles right now, figuring out what you need to see on the web. They also generate some of their own content, podcasts, forums, blogs, etc. Based on their blog, they sift through the video content on the web (You Tube, et al) and let us know what’s best. The site is ad supported and has taken a small seed round (six figures) from Boston based Prism VentureWorks.

I actually found these guys on Blip.tv; I was bored and watched Felicia Williams deliver a podcast. She’s good looking, which is what got me engaged initially. But what I really like is user generated stuff. Some of it is great, some of it sucks, but it’s all empowering because anyone can contribute their thoughts, their message, or their perspective on life to the community at large. Daily Reel is helping to sort that content to give us time starved folks an edge on what content we should consume, and that’s a valuable service. So far, while navigating through the site, I have not been disappointed in what I’ve seen, and I’ve gotten hooked (in spite of myself) into several linked sites and discussions.

I call it an 7 because they’re doing good work and providing a useful service. The site is a little busy for my taste, but the target consumer will feel at ease in the mayhem.

Here they are on blip.tv: http://blip.tv/file/204741

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We had a sweet, old-school Landcruiser, an FJ 40 to be exact. It’s was a ‘76, which was a great year for that vehicle. The FJ40 is sweet and very reliable in any incarnation, but in 1976 the 4 cylinder engine also got a little stronger, and got a little more pick and go. We named ours the Sticky Rig, for a variety of reasons that I will not go into here (nothing gross though, I swear.)

I will say this first of all: it is fun. It’s fun to look at, it’s fun to drive, and it’s fun to be seen in. This is a vehicle that gets appreciative looks on the highway, and on the streets of this sunny beach community. (Not Malibu.) My buddies are selling the Sticky Rig, which makes me sad, but it will find a god home I’m sure.

This particular FJ is a sort of sky blue color, and it runs perfectly. We’ve taken it off-road, and the four wheel drive works great. It runs perfect, belches a little smoke if it has been sitting for a week, but it clears right away. The plugs do foul up pretty quick, but it’s always easy to start. You do need to be real comfortable driving a stick because it is an older vehicle, but everything works. And the truth is, you just feel like a bad ass when you’re in it.

The thing has a lot of miles on it, and on the highway you’re good up to about 60-65 MPH – beyond that, you start to feel your teeth rattling. But it’s still worth it.

Now before anyone questions my credibility (hah), I Want to make something clear. I am reviewing the Sticky Rig for two reasons:

1. My buddy is selling it, and I am using my readership (both of them) to help him get the word out.

2. I love the Sticky Rig, and I drove it many times, even took it home with me for a while. I think Toyota’s are sweet, Landcruisers are rad, and FJ40’s kick ass. So I also want to review it because it merits review.

Now, if you want to know more about the Sticky Rig (or even want to own a sweet 1976 FJ 40, feel free to check out some of the pics below. The Craigslist posting (if you ant to own an FJ 40) is below as well. My personal feelings: the ‘76 FJ 40 rates an 7 on kick ass style and ass-kicking function.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/car/306186943.html

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