Practical Technology

You may have noticed that when I talk about TV over the Internet, I haven’t been talking about Google TV or the like. Instead, I’ve been focusing on “media extenders” like the Apple TV, Roku, and the various Internet-equipped Blu-Ray DVD players. The main reason is the elephant in the room: “When will Apple announce an iTunes-empowered TV, aka a “real” Apple TV. We still don’t know when, of indeed if, Apple will make its move, but the possibilty, probablity, has everyone waiting to see what happens next in Internet TV.

Oh sure, the Leichtman Research Group claims that Americans report that 38% of homes already have an Internet connected television (PDF Link), but only 4% of them say that their Internet TVs are actually hooked up. Yeah, right.

I think most people still don’t have a clue about to get the Internet and their televisions in sync. Today, people who watch TV via the Internet are like me: Electronics fans and network savvy geeks. The current generation of Internet TVs is part of the reason why that’s so. None of them are all that user friendly.

Waiting on the Real Apple TV. More >

Some people are still sure Windows 8 is going to be the cat’s meow. I’m sure Windows 8 and its Metro interface will be more like a cat’s yowl of pain. The more I look at Metro, the more I’m sure that Microsoft’s new desktop will flop as badly as the Facebook IPO.

It’s not just me. Business analysts, who could care less about technology but care a lot about what customers think, are saying things like “Windows 8 will prove to be a disappointment.”

Windows users who were already unhappy about having to learn Metro, which doesn’t work or look a thing like Vista and Windows 7’s Aero interface never mind XP’s familiar appearance, are finding out there’s more trouble ahead for them. Windows 8 will cost more at launch to upgrade to from Windows 7. DVD playback and media-center functionality will now be an extra-price option.

Oh as for Metro-friendly applications, here’s what Matthew Baxter-Reynolds, an independent software development consultant, speaker, author, and trainer and all around Windows guru who’s writing the book “Programming Windows 8 Apps with C#” had to say: “does Metro actually work? In my opinion: No.”

I don’t care if your most prized possession is an autographed copy of Bill Gates’ The Road Ahead, you have got to be wary of moving to Windows 8. So what can you do to avoid, or at least delay, the day you have to start using it?

Five ways to avoid Windows 8. More >

I told you so. I told anyone who would listen yesterday that investing in Facebook’s IPO would be foolish and I was right. Facebook closed its high-excitement IPO day at $38.37 a share… mere pocket change over its initial price.

On Thursday, Facebook had priced its shares at $38, giving itself a valuation of $104 billion, and raising $18.41 billion. Too bad the market didn’t believe that valuation. Oh sure it may look like Facebook, which was to have gone public at 9:30 AM Eastern Time, but actually only started trading on the Nasdaq under the “FB” tickerat 11:00 AM EST, but the stock actually would have dived like the Titanic if it wasn’t for the the company’s 33 underwriters buying up shares to keep it afloat and above water at just over the $38 offering price,

Bullish, would-be buyers had predicted that at the end Facebook’s first day as a public company that the stock would be selling at $54 a share. So much for that pipe-dream.

Stick a fork in the Facebook IPO, it’s done. More >

First, I am not a stock market maven. I don’t own a single share of any technology stock. So, when I say only an idiot would buy into Facebook’s $104-billion IPO tomorrow keep that in mind. On the other hand, I’ve been covering technology and the business of technology for closing in on 30-years and when something starts to smell as badly as the Facebook IPO does, I think I can tell when a stinker is a stinker. And, folks, Facebook smells to the high heavens.

First, take a long hard look at the Facebook IPO’s S1. One of the things I’ve learned along my way is how to read SEC reports. The risk factors in Facebook’s S1 both in dependence and growth are downright scary.

It’s a long, long list, but one that really caught my attention was number 22: 22.”Our CEO has control over key decision making as a result of his control of a majority of our voting stock.” That means Mark “Mr. Hoodie” Zuckerberg is going to large and in charge of Facebook. No stockholders, no board can stop him from doing whatever he wants with Facebook.

Don’t be a Facebook IPO idiot. More >

better and better. The just released Chrome 19 is a perfect example of this.

Besides fixing a slew of security problems, Chrome 19’s niftiest new feature is tab syncing. Chrome has long given you the power to sync your bookmarks, apps, extensions, history, themes, and other settings. Now, you can sync your open tabs as well between computers, and if you’re lucky enough to have an Android smartphone with Ice Cream Sandwich, which supports the beta Chrome for Android, you can sync them with your phone as well.

Here’s how it works. When you’re signed in to Google, your open tabs are automatically synced across all your devices. To get to them, simply open a new tab on your browser and on the bottom left there’s an “Other devices” menu on the center-left of the bottom of the page. From it, you can see all your other Chrome sessions and their open tabs. Want to open one on tabs from say your work computer? Just click on it and you’re on way.

This is neat. This makes it easier than ever to never lose track of what you were doing in your various browsers.

Chrome 19: The Best Web browser just keeps getting better. More >