Tivo Officially in Canada

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I have been away for the last week and am just catching up on my Tech News. I have just learned that Tivo will now be officially available in Canada! Starting December 10th you will be able to pick up a Tivo Series 2 box at Best Buy, London Drugs or Future Shop for 199.99.

Tivo is a DVR service that allows you to record 2 basic cable shows, or 1 digital and 1 basic cable show at the same price. There is a 12.95 USD monthly subscription fee (129.95 USD for annual yearly until February 08). The box connects to your home network via Ethernet (or optional wireless) to update it’s guide and offer more features.

While Tivo has been available in Canada for a couple of years now it was not really an official service, and if you had problems your box had to be shipped back to the US.

A couple of things to note here. The Series 3 boxes which can record HD TV are not being made available in Canada yet so you are limited to recording basic or digital (if you have a cable box) channels.

You can however transfer recorded TV over to other devices with Tivo to go software, such as to an Ipod or laptop/desktop which is very difficult to do with a Shaw PVR.

I for one will continue to use my Media Center PC as it does the same thing and more and there is no subscription fee.

Home Server OEM is here!

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We just received our first two copies of Windows Home Server OEM! We plan on building the first one soon (retiring our Beta one) and will be able to build a new Home Server based on whatever specs a client wants.

Home Server is a new product from Microsoft that is exactly what the name implies. It is a headless server that resides in your house and provides file sharing, automated client backup, remote access to your files and more.

Contact us ASAP if you are interested and we can start putting together your home server soon!

Some new Vista Performance Patches

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Earlier this month Microsoft released some new performance patches for Vista that address issues like the file copying. They are not available yet as Automatic updates but can be downloaded from Microsoft’s site. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads and search for Vista.

They do improve Vista’s performance a great deal so we are advising clients running Vista to download and apply ASAP.

My tech of travel!

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I am taking the family on a 7 day, Eastern Caribbean cruise in the next couple of months, and I thought I would share the tech I plan on traveling with. These are a few things that you can take with you. on a vacation.

My Acer Travelmate 6292 laptop.
I already know that the ship offers Satellite wireless (at a big cost) and that the hotel that we are staying at pre and post cruise offers free wireless, even if there was no Internet access, I would still be taking the machine. With 6 digital cameras and 4 windows based media players (no IPods here) the laptop will come in handy. I plan on taking pictures off the cameras daily, (the last time we went on a cruise I lost my wife’s camera and all the pictures on it). In addition I will have an external USB hard drive that pictures will also be backed up to in case something goes wrong with the laptop. In addition I’ll rip 3 or 4 DVDs for us and the kids to the machine so that we can watch without carrying disks with us. Finally I will be able to stay in touch with family and friends back home. Maybe Skype will work from the ship but it should work pre and post cruise. The laptop also features a bluetooth voip phone so that I can use Skype. I chose this laptop over my Asus 14.1" wide screen as the hard drive is bigger and the Acer is built for travel. Although the screen is only 12.1" it is smaller, has up to 6 hours of battery life and is a magnesium alloy chassis.

My Nokia N800 Internet Tablet
This is my latest gadget. It is a small wireless device running a special version of Linux. I have installed several applications on it and it can play back media (video and Audio), play games and do email. I plan on trying this on the ship to check my mail daily. The wireless card in this device is the best I have ever used, although battery life is not great. I do have a small external Lithium Ion battery that I bought off the net for 30.00 and powers virtually any of my devices. I plan on getting another one too. Keep watching as I plan to write a more indepth review here too of this little device. I can also connect my Nokia up to a Bluetooth GPS unit and I have a folding Dell Bluetooth travel keyboard for it.

Creative Zen Vision M 60 GB Media player
Music and video for air travel, relaxing by the pool or just relaxing on the balcony of our cabin. I also have about 10 audio books on there from Audible.com so it gives me a variety of reading without taking up the space. I can also catch up on a few of my podcasts and web videos.

Garmin 350 Nuvi GPS
I have confirmed that this unit has maps of Puerto Rico and St. Thomas U.S.V.I on it so if we decide to walk around ourselves in port we will be able to get back to the ship. I may also take my Bluetooth GSat GPS receiver which will give my laptop and Nokia GPS capability as well.

US Tracfones
We have four of these phones that our family uses when traveling in the US. On our last cruise in the Gulf these phones worked on the ship (in the Gulf) and in ports. As we are going to US Possessions these phones will work in port and in the gulf. In addition I have recently found out that I can add up to 3 Canadian numbers to each phone, so that people contacting me from here will not have to incur long distance. It beats the rates that Rogers charges for roaming (1.45 per minute incoming and 1/75 per minute outgoing). In addition I have just learnt that I can add up to three Canadian phone numbers to each phone so calling them from here would not be a long distance call to Florida (the current numbers). Tracfone now also offers monthly activation plans you you can just bring the phone up when required.

Sony PSP
As well as for gaming, I also use this as a media player. I can put three dvds on the 2 GB Memory stick I have and with 2 batteries I get about 10 hours of video. While this device can also connect to the web wirelessly, the interface and keyboard is awful, so about the only thing I use it for is RSS feed updates. Using the Sony Media Manager Software I can also convert video podcasts and shows I have recorded on my Media Centre PC to the PSP.

Canon HV 20 HD Video Camera
This is the first time I will be using this on a trip. It is a tape based High Definition Camcorder. I hope to capture some good family shots ans some scenary stuff with it. A further review will follow.

RCA Small Wonder Video Camera
One of my favorite little gadgets. This is a small Digital Video Camcorder. It records 30 minutes of "high quality "video (640X480 30 FPS) to it’s internal flash memory and by adding a 2 GB SD card I can record an additional 2 hours. The device runs on AA batteries,(I use rechargables) and has a built in USB connector and preloaded editing software on it. Plug it into a PC and you can edit in camera. There is a small (1.5") lcd that flips out for self filming and playback as well as a built in microphone. Because it is so small (width and depth like a deck of cards but a little taller) it easily fits into any pocket for quick shooting. The 4X digital zoom is not great, but the camera itself for posting quick video’s to You Tube is fine. I will probably have it everywhere I go this trip. As they are not available in Canada I picked my 2 up off of EBay. A more in depth review will be coming up.

Motorola and Cobra FRS Radios
We have 4of these and will use them for communication amongst each other on the ship, as the ships are so large. They come in handy and  we take them on all trips, great in amusement parks, shopping malls, tourist attractions etc.

Tamarac Adventure 7  Backpack
This was a recent gift from my better half. It is a camera bag designed into a backpack. It can carry a laptop, some accessories, my camera body and additional lenses. All the photo and computer equipment sections are padded, seams are all covered to be weatherproof and it will make carrying my 2 bodies and selection of lenses easier on my back when we are in port.

External LI-on battery pack
This is a small LI-ON battery pack that I recently picked up, It comes with 8 different adaptor tips, a usb cable and an AC power adaptor. It is small light and powers/recharges  every device that we will have (All 4 mp3 Players, PSP, Nokia N800, Nokia Cell phones, Blackberries). It can be recharged from a USB port or with the AC adaptor. It gives an additional 4 to 6 hours of power to all of the devices on a full charge.

Monster Travel Power Strip
Designed for the traveler, it is very small light weight and gives three outlets from 1. We will have 2 of these with us.

Sony Active Noise Canceling Headphones
Picked these up last year and they are really good on aircraft and noisy environments where there is a constant hum (air conditioners, fans etc). Two microphones on the earpieces pick up the noise and then electronically cancel it into the headphones. Runs on one AAA battery. Great for watching movies or listening to portable players on aircraft as they significantly reduce the engine noise.

Seems like a lot of toys to carry, but they are really not bad. Believe it or not everything fits into the Tamarac backpack above. We will be in the air and in airports for 12 hours each way so keeping the kids entertained will be important.

Free Music??

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I recently heard about a new music service called Spiral Frog (http://www.spiralfrog.com). They are offering free music downloads. My first visit to the site was interesting. Their music catalog is not bad (700,000 songs) and they do in fact give the music away free, but there is a catch!

Here is how their service works… You sign up for a free account, download their music download manager (IE and Firefox) and start browsing. The download manager becomes an embedded control in your browser window when visiting the site. The catch? Well the music is DRMMed and you have to use Windows Media Player 10 or 11 so it means Windows Vista or XP only. You cannot burn your music to a CD, although you can transfer it to up to 2 "Plays for Sure" portable players, sorry IPod and Zune owners! Next you have to renew your membership every 30 days (and from what understand) answer a short survey. The key here is they can tell their advertisers that x% of their users plan on buying a new car in the next 6 months.

Why is this important? Well it is related to the way their download manager works, which is I admit kind of a pain in the neck. When you are signed in at the site you select the music you want to download and add it to your download manager. To start your download you click on the download button, and for your first download you have to manually enter the code shown to start. Once the download has completed you have to click on the download next button for your next song. So you have to stay at the site till all of your downloads are done, although you can continue to browse their site. This is how they make their advertising dollars because the site becomes sticky and they get ad exposure.

There is some debate here as to whether people will like this or not. You don’t actually ever own the music and you can’t play it on the most popular portable players (Ipod and Zune). If they ever do go out of business then all of your downloaded music from them will also be unplayable. It will be a great way of downloading an album to see if you like it and if you do you could either buy the cd or buy it from another source (like ITunes).

All in all it, I think it is a great service, although it is slow and cumbersome to download from, but that is the cost you pay for the free music. Whether it will survive remains to be seen, especially since they are excluding the largest player segment. Alternatives right now for low cost music downloads are Emusic.com (limited selection though) and Itunes.

 

Update! Another PIA issue. If you sign out or close your browser while logged in and downloading, when you log back in your download queue will be gone. However if you leave your browser open overnight you can continue downloading later. S

Shaw blocking port 25 outbound

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Well it has been happening all summer but Shaw has been slowing blocking port 25 outbound on their connections. They are probably one of the last ISPs in North America to do so.

Does this affect you? Probably not! If you do use email accounts other than Shaw’s you probably are or will be affected. Here is what is happening, Shaw blocks port 25 outbound which is the port that email servers use to send and receive email. By blocking port 25 outbound your mail client can’t communicate on that port to your mail server. and therefore cannot send email. Telus has been doing this for sometime now and I was first made aware of Shaw’s changes in May of 2007. About a month later my connection started doing the same thing.

Their rational behind this is that it reduces outbound spam from their network, where in actuality one of the side affects is that it can make your non Shaw email look more like spam because of one of the methods of working around the block. 

This restriction can affect you if you have your own domain email, or if you use pop3 services for Gmail, Hotmail, AOL etc.

How can you work around it? Well if you have your own domain and use that email server, see if your hosting provider can set up your sendmail program (or mail server) on an alternate port (like 2525). If this is done go into your mail client’s advanced settings for the account and change the smtp port to the port that was provided. You should now be able to send to your own server.

If you don’t have the option to change the ports you will have to send email out via the Shaw (or Telus mail servers if your are with them) . Go into the account settings for your mail client and set the outgoing servers as your ISPs. For example with Shaw cable in Calgary it is shawmail.cg.shawcable.net.  If you are using a mail server other than your own domain you are essential done (although it is possible that you email will be marked as spam because the sending domain will not match the email domain). If you are using your own domain there is one other step you have to do. In order for your email not to be tagged as possible spam, make sure that you create an SPF record for your domain including your ISPs mail servers as authorized servers to send mail for your domain.

There are several web based wizards available that will walk you through the process of creating the SPF record (Microsoft has a good one). Create your SPF record and either add it (or have it added) to your DNS records as a txt record. This tells other mail servers that use SPF that your ISPs mail server is authorized to send on behalf of your domain and therefore it is less likely to be tagged as a spam email.

I have checked and this affects both personal Shaw accounts and commercial accounts. However my server running on a static IP address works fine.

Just another way that spammers have ruined our Internet experience!

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Where’s the Blackberry 8320?

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I was browsing the Roger’s web site the other day and noticed that they are now selling the Blackberry 8310. This is the new Curve with built in GPS, which in theory is a nice phone. But the 8320 with a built in Wifi card (802.11) is the phone I really want.

A review I saw today indicates that this phone can make calls over a wifi network (VOIP)! As well you can surf the web over wifi and get your email that way as well. What this means is that you can make VOIP calls over public hotspots, by passing the cellular network (and the billing) or get your email and surf the web that way not using the Edge network . In theory I could switch to a much cheaper data plan than I have now and surf using 802.11 instead.

A call to Rogers Customer Service today indicated that they have no indication when this hone will come out in Canada or even if it will be available. My guess is that Rogers has decided not to sell this phone because they could lose money on it in the long run as people could switch to less expensive voice and data calls and use wireless instead.

This is another reason why the Cell Phone industry in Canada is really screwed. Compared to the rest of the world, our data plans our way out of whack. For example, with At&T in the US and the iPhone, Apple got an unlimited data plan for 20.00 per month! Most iPhone subscribers got a 40.00 voice plan (with way more minutes than I get for 45.00) and pay 20.00 for unlimited data (total 60.00 mth). I pay more than that for just my Blackberry Data Plan at 65.00 per month just for 50MB of bandwidth (the closet thing to an unlimited account)

If you are waiting for the iPhone in Canada, I wouldn’t hold your breath, although I would love to see the release here, although I don’t want one. If it does finally come, I believe it will finally open up our cell networks and we Canadians won’t keep getting screwed!

Contact your cell phone provider and complain about our data plans and how we get screwed. I make a habit of doing this constantly every time I talk to Rogers Customer Service. Maybe one day we will get a fair treatment!

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CA Anti Virus/Internet Security Version Upgrade Available

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If you have a current CA Anti Virus or Internet Security 2007 Suite with a current subscription, regardless if you purchased from Sysguy Consulting or not, this is a notification that there is a new version available for download. The new CA Internet Security 2008 Suite is available for download now. If you registered the software log into your account at http://store.ca.com where you can get your new license keys and download the new version of the software. An interesting thing that I found was that my single user AV was converted to the 3 user version with 2008!

This is one of the great deals about CA Security products as they include software upgrades in the yearly subscription as well as just signature downloads, unlike some of the other vendor products that make you buy a new version every year.

If you are interested in getting CA Antivirus or Internet Security Suite 2008 please contact us.

New Shaw problem – Access Denied with certain Web sites Fix included

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I ran into some strange things using IE and my Shaw internet connection this summer. I would go to sites and would get access denied messages or it would say that I was a spammer. My wife even was denied the ability to do a Google search.

After some investigation I found the problem. I was using IE and it appears that the setup (automatically detect settings) was using Shaw’s proxy server and that was being blocked. Whenever I tried to access cbs.com I would get an access denied message. I tested this at a few client sites and saw the same behaviour. No problems when I used Firefox (recommended anyway). Going to whatismyip.com showed that my IP address was 24.xx.xx.xx which I know is wrong because I have one static and two dynamic addresses from Shaw and all three are supposed to be in the 70.xx.xx.xx range.

I find that this does not affect people with the older Motorola Cybersurfer modems either, only the docsis (small black ones). To fix the problem in IE do the following:
Open IE and click on the tools drop down (IE7) or on the tools menu in IE 6 and select Internet Options.
Go to the connections tab
At the bottom click on LAN settings
Uncheck the box that says automatically detect settings
Click OK all the way through to close the dialog boxes

I have reported the problem to Shaw technical support , but have not updated them with the fact that I have found this on other clients connections.

Stephen