Category: Gadgets

There is a workaround to get Picasa to index a photo collection on an Netgear SC101.  The trick is, you have to set Picasa to save imported pictures in the root of the photo drive–go Tools >> Options >> General.  Click the Browse button (next to “Save Imported Pictures In”), and click OK.  Picasa will then index your entire drive.

Another option you have is to use the Import functionality, and import your folders from your Netgear drive.  This requires much patience, and the application may claim to be “Not Responding”, but it’s just loading information from the drive.  If you have a lot of photos, this can take a while.

I still can’t get Picasa to add additional SC101 drives via the foler manager, so it’s a good thing I have a partition dedicated to just photos.

They’re here…

Samsung has officially launched its new super-small PC, dubbed the Q1, that is essentially a cross between a laptop and a PDA. It lets users write on the screen, play movies and games, and stay connected to the Internet through wireless hotspots.

Read more: http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=0020002BEJ70

Technorati: UMPC

My photo collection is building, and the PictureProject software that shipped with my Nikon D50 is clunky and slow.  Before my collection grows out of control, I wanted to try another piece of software.  Tonight’s test was Picasa, and I think I’ve found the first incompatibility.  Picasa does not see the drives on my SC101.  I can browse the drives fine with Windows Explorer, and PictureProject imports photos from the SC101 drives (although it tends to lose the thumbnails from time to time), but Picasa has no clue these drives exist.  I’ll give the software another chance, but it’s probably back to PictureProject for now.

So my first pair went back because the headband cracked, and the headset couldn’t stay paired with the transmitter.  The replacements arrived fairly quickly, but the second set had a battery charging issue.  After trying several rounds of resets and pairing and more resets (keep the button pressed for 25 seconds!), Logitech is sending a replacement for this pair as well.  This is really disappointing, since I really like this product, but the toubles are making it less and less appealing. 

I’m not the only one suffering these problems; here are a few threads from Logitech’s support forums.

http://forums.logitech.com/pe/action/forums/displaysinglethread?rootPostID=10151625

http://forums.logitech.com/pe/action/forums/displaysinglethread?rootPostID=10150058

http://forums.logitech.com/pe/action/forums/displaysinglethread?rootPostID=10164588

http://forums.logitech.com/pe/action/forums/displaysinglethread?rootPostID=10163280

You’ll find more if you keep scanning their forums.  Wi-Gear’s iMuffs are a similar product that might be worth checking out.

Now playing: Jay Ferguson – Thunder Island

Staples gladly exchanged the faulty SC101, and re-installation was a breeze.  I uninstalled the previous version of the config software, connected the hard drives to the new toaster, plugged it in, reinstalled the config software, and I was off to the races again.  There was no need to repartition the drives, and the data was all intact.  The config tool recognized the old partitions, and the new device actually seems a little faster.  A nuisance, but Netgear and Staples both made the whole process a lot easier.

I was upgrading the firmware on my SC101 (with the caveat “Do not interrupt upgrade process”) when we had a brief brown-out (35+ MPH wind gusts all day long).  The upgrade has run for about 45 minutes by this time, a length of time that was already making me nervous.  Once everything came back on-line, I could no longer connect to the SC101.  Bad news, since I had a lot of photographs as well as my iTunes library on there.

I submitted an on-line incident to Netgear Tech Support at 5:54 PM their time (1:54 PM my time), and had a response at 11:52 PM their time.  6 hours is a great response time, but the instructions were to call Netgear Tech Support to diagnose a hardware issue, or get an RMA.

After about 10 min on the phone, I was told to take the device back to Staples (since it’s still under the 30–day warranty there).  If Staples won’t exchange it, I can send it back to Netgear for a replacement.

Not quite the outcome I was hoping for (I was hoping to fix it today), but overall not a bad experience.  While I’m at Staples, I’m going to invest in a small UPS backup.

I was recently paid by a client, so I took the opportunity to add a little hardware to my home network:

 
Netgear SC101 Storage Central

My home network consists of two laptops (mine and Wifey’s, via w-fi), and my desktop (wired to the base station).  I needed to be able to access the same files from my laptop and my desktop.  These include my iTunes library, and source code stored in my VSS repository.  Wifey needed to back up iTunes, and I needed to make sure she can access the thousands of images from the flower shop’s weddings and funeral work.  Netgear’s “toaster” seemed like it would fit the bill, so I ordered it and a pair of Maxtor 200 GB IDE hard drives.  Total cost was under $400, significantly less than for a full file server.  One of the reasons this is so much cheaper than a full file server is that this is more of a networkable hard drive, and this particular model is meant for the home network.  Technically, this device is a SAN, not NAS (http://kbserver.netgear.com/kb_web_files/n101547.asp).  Similar products on the market are Iomega’s StorCenter hard drives or the lower-end Snap Servers.  One advantage this device has over the other competitors is that you can determine how much storage you have.  You have to buy the drives separately, but you can start with one and add another one later.  You can also upgrade the drives for more storage down the road.

Setup was very easy—I literally opened the side of the SC101, dropped in the two drives and connected the power and ribbon cables to each.  The side needed a little more force to get back on than I wanted to use, and the lock is spring loaded, so I had to use both hands, one to keep the lock unlocked until the side was back in place, and the other to press the side into place.  It’s like they needed to leave a few mm more space than they did, and the side still doesn’t fit back perfectly.  I then attached the network cable and plugged the unit in, and it started its self configuration.  You do need to have your network running with DHCP, which is the default for most home networking gear.  If you haven’t fiddled with the DHCP settings, you’re probably good to go.

Next step was to install the software, which you must use in order to make this work.  Installation was quick, and it even prompts you to check for an update first.  Good thing, as there was a minor version upgrade since my unit shipped.  Once the software is installed, your first task is to configure the drives, and I was pleasantly surprised as to how the drives can be configured.  During configuration, you’re prompted to check for a firmware upgrade, and this too had a minor version upgrade.  The firmware upgrade was the only glitch in installation—the installer program crashed after the update finished, and I couldn’t reconnect to the device with the client software until I power cycled it.  After the power cycle, I could configure the drives, and everything progressed normally.

I was most interested in having my drives mirrored for data protection reasons (http://kbserver.netgear.com/kb_web_files/n101543.asp), but you do have some options in how you divide the physical drives into logical drives.  You can define the physical storage media into a number of logical drives, and each drive can be mirrored or not.  I could have two drives, each of 190 GB (representing the two physical volumes), or one 150 GB mirrored and two 40 GB non-mirrored (one on each physical volume).  I ended up with a 150 GB and a 40 GB drive, each mirrored.  Total time was maybe 20 minutes from when I started unpacking to finishing configuration.

In the Amazon reviews, you’ll see people complain about the speed of the device.  Part of this may have to do with the network speed, part may have to do with the speed of the physical drives (try to buy faster ones if you can), and part may have to do with the size of the logical drives.  I use a Microsoft MN-500 base station running at 100 Mbps (the speed of most corporate networks), and it took 2–3 minutes to copy 1300+ files (894 MB) from my desktop to the SC101.  You will probably get better performance by partitioning into smaller logical volumes, and by using a wired connection (the laptops connect at 10 Mbps via wi-fi, but newer wi-fi networks can connect at 54 Mbps).  On the larger volume, it does seem to take a few moments longer to load folder and file listings than on the smaller volume, so I would suggest several smaller logical drives, rather than one monster drive.

There are a couple considerations/downsides.  One thing you definitely need to make sure of is that if you’re using a wi-fi home network, you should definitely secure it with WEP or WPA, especially if you’ll be storing sensitive files on the SC101.  If you don’t, there’s a chance someone could access your files.  I suspect this device uses some form of embedded Linux, and it doesn’t support NTFS or Windows security—it just uses a simple password to access the volume (if you set one).  There does not seem to be any client for Macs or Linux machines, only Windows.  Since I bought two new drives off the shelf at Staples, I can’t say if older drives work or not (you can find a list of tested drives at http://kbserver.netgear.com/kb_web_files/n101554.asp).  Also, Netgear’s website says that the device is compatible with Windows XP SP1, but the box and product insert both say that XP SP2 is the minimum system.  I had to upgrade Wifey’s laptop to SP2 in order to make the client software connect, and the software worked fine after the upgrade to SP2.  Also, SFS bypasses the Windows cache, so folder and file information must be reloaded each time you access your drives.  This absoluetly slows the interface down, and can get annoying if you have to keep accessing different folders in a short amount of time.

All in all, I’m very pleased after several days of use.  One cool feature is that the drives do not need to be defragged.  The controller software uses SAN File System (SFS), which is self-optimizing (to oversimplify).    Even though it’s not a Windows-based device, I haven’t noticed any incompatibilities at all, and the speed seems fine for normal file operations.  And, you can choose to share the logical drives, or keep them private.  This allows you to have a central family place for photos or whatever, and private drives for each family member.

<update 2006–01–01>

I noticed today that for some reason the Windows Installer is painfully slow when I have drives attached.  When using the Add/Remove programs, or when installing a new application, the installation takes forever.  To remedy this, I ran the drive wizard and detached the drive.  Then, installation was pretty normal.

I’ve been on a quest to do a little more with my Axim than just a handy contact manager.  I’ve wanted one way to take my RSS feeds with me so I can read them during Microsoft events when Virtual PC isn’t working right.  I tried a few Pocket PC RSS readers, and my favorite so far has been Pocket RSS.  It was extremely easy to dump an OPML file from RSS Bandit, transfer it to my Axim and then subscribe in the reader.  One of the nicest things is that it uses the connection manager, so it can update feeds when connected via ActiveSync, and it can update feeds when I’m using the WiFi card.  Not every reader could do that, which surprised me–one that claimed to be the leading RSS aggregator could only sync via WiFi.  For the $5.95, I’m definately registering Pocket RSS.

My other new favorite app is ADBWeather Plus, from the same programmer incidentally.  This app was also very easy to set up, and I have to give major props to any app that has Butler, PA listed in it.  Weather Plus actually requires a live connection when you configure your forecasts, because it pulls live data from the National Weather Service’s system.  Right now, we’re having a thunderstorm and tornado watch, and I have satellite maps and warnings in the different views.  This one is actually free, but you need to register at the developer’s site.  Very cool, indeed!

To make these all come togther, I’ve added SBSH PocketBreeze as a Today screen plug-in.  Another great app more than worth the small registration.  I cleared everything off my Today screen except the date and time, and added PocketBreeze.  PocketBreeze allows you to configure various tabs, and both Pocket RSS and Weather Plus plug right in (they each stand alone if you want to go that route).  My calendar, e-mail boxes, RSS feeds and weather forecasts are now all tabs on my today screen quickly accessible with a simple touch of the stylus.  Full apps open as necessary when I click on them.

[UPDATE]

This is a commentary based on advertised features, not a product review.  If you are confused as to what the differences are, stop reading now.  If you can tell the difference, read on.  The comments will attest that some cannot tell the difference.

[/UPDATE]

[UPDATE2]

For a product review, read the Personal Technology column in today’s (Aug 4 2005) Wall St. Journal.  Walt Mossberg, who is no great fan of Microsoft, and has actually used this mouse, points out the deficiencies of this mouse.  Some of what I was criticized for saying yesterday (Aug 3 2005) turns out to be true.  Online: http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20050804.html.

[/UPDATE2]

I had to see what all the buzz was about regrding Apple’s new “Might Mouse”, so I checked out Apple’s website.  In the past, Microsoft has been accused of simply copying the ideas of others, especially Apple.  Today, I think MS can safely say “back at ya”.  Here’s the 4 major features of the “Mighty Mouse”:

1) “Touch sensitive technology detects right and left click.”

Right click!  No way!  How’d they come up with that?  I remember having a Logitech 3 button mouse all the way back on Windows 386 (that would be before Windows 3 for you Regan-era babies).

2) “The innovative Scroll Ball gives you 360 scrolling capability.”

The ball’s been used before, but admittedly to move the mouse rather than scroll the document.  For several years, MS has had a mouse with the usual click wheel that also tilted to scroll a document left and right (see http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/features/tiltwheel.mspx).

3) “Horizontal, vertical and even diagonal scrolling offers more control.”

I’m not sure if the tilt wheel in #2 scrolls diagonally, but I’m also not sure the scrolling thing bears repeating.

4) “Force sensing side-buttons let you activate apps.”

Yawn.  Been there, done that, hate those things because the buttons are right where I grab the mouse to reposition it, and the damn apps launch.  I think they even stopped making that model because it was such an annoyance.  My wife still has hers, and it drives me nuts.

Oen thing that seems to be missing is any element of ergonomics.  It’s still pretty much the same shape as the usual Mac mouse.  At least MS bothers to put some comfort into their mouse designs.