The MMO Notebook

It has been awhile since I started using Google Sync, which is Google’s free contacts and calendar syncing software. It allows you to sync your Gmail contacts and calendar to your mobile phone. It does some nice things, but in the end, I decided to stop using it and go back to Apple’s MobileMe service.

Google Sync is free, so I wanted to see if it would be worthy enough to replace my MobileMe service, which costs $99 per year. Google Sync offers push contacts and calendar from Gmail to your mobile phone and it performs those tasks very well. I tested the service on my iPhone 3G and it works as advertised. Once it is setup on your phone, any change you make to your contacts or calendar automatically gets updated in the cloud and on your phone. Unfortunately, push email is not offered as yet, but the button to turn it on is there, so they will probably offer that feature soon.

Updates to my Gmail contacts and calendar were quick and painless. Changes to something in Gmail was almost instantly changed on my phone and vice versa. I never had a problem with functionality and everything worked very well. The only downside that I noticed was that the push feature used more of my iPhone’s battery.

Okay, so if Google Sync works as advertised, why did I stop using it? Quite simply, MobileMe has spoiled me. MobileMe allows me to sync my email, contacts, and calendars to my phone and all my computers. You can use a program called Spanning Sync (for a Mac) to get all of that functionality with Google Sync, but that costs money and is something extra you need to install. I also found software that will sync Google with Microsoft Outlook, but again it costs money. In the end, it is worth it to me to pay for the extra convenience.

If all you need is contacts and calendar syncing between Gmail and your phone, then Google Sync is a no-brainer. It is free, fast, and works very well. If you need to also sync your email and have everything the same across phones and computers, you will need to look elsewhere or deal with the extra paid software. If you use PC’s, I would recommend looking at a company that offers Exchange support.

Google Sync has made a good start. I would definitely give them another try if they were to begin offering features that allow me to sync my data across all my phones and computers. Until then, MobileMe is my choice.

Yep, I am still here. I have not had much time to blog lately due to a series of events that occupied my free moments.  I had a serious bout with the flu, which after three weeks, I am finally rid of it. I had relatives visit for more than a week while at the same time spending my days off looking for a house to buy.  So yeah, busy indeed.

Upcoming posts will include my review of Google Sync and the reasons why I stopped using it. In another post, I will do a video review of the Lacie Iamakey USB drive, which looks like a car key. Also look for posts about the free backup/syncing service called Dropbox and other various computer and gaming information.

–Kevin

Best Buy has done it again. Just like a previous story, a customer bought a computer, took it home and found a brick inside the box instead of a Macbook Pro. Just like the other story, Best Buy won’t do a thing about it and pawns the problem off to Apple. It looks like Best Buy has a difficult time learning lessons.

I’ll say it again: if you buy an expensive item at Best Buy, open the box right there in the store and make sure you are getting what you pay for. It could save you a huge headache.

A new Visa ad running in Australia. Just imagine…

I didn’t think it was possible, but Microsoft has found a new way to piss off its customers.  A report sighted at Slashdot says that the upcoming Windows 7 Starter Edition will allow you to only run three programs at once. What this means is that if you have your web browser, email, and word processor open and you then want to open Excel, you won’t be able to unless you close what you already have open. That is preposterous!

How in the world can Microsoft be so anti-user as to offer this junk? Limitations like this will only frustrate and annoy users to a point where they might go look for other alternatives. I try to be fair to both sides, but this makes me even more happy to use a Mac as my main computer. Apple has it right when they say that they only offer one version of their operating system – the Ultimate Version. It has no limitations and every feature is included for a price much less than Windows.

Windows 7 is looking better than Vista, but Microsoft has made a big mistake with this decision.

Closed beta has begun for FreeRealms, a free-to-play MMO game being created by Sony Online Entertainment. It is a game designed for the entire family, so gamers of all ages will find something fun to do. Not only can you do the standard MMO things like going out an bashing monsters, you can also do things you don’t normally see in an MMO.

Sony has made several videos available on the FreeRealms site that showcase some of the neat things this game will offer. You can race karts, keep pets, play chess, and do other casual things that has nothing to do with going out and killing creatures. The graphics appear to be cartoony but they do look good.

I will be keeping tabs on this title as I am interested to see how good a game Sony will make of it. It will be free-to-play, but there will be many options you won’t have access to unless you pay to play it. To get access to the full game, you’ll need to pony up $5 a month. Sony says there will be no lack of enjoyment for the free players. I hope they hold to that.

If you are an adult, don’t expect to find a huge challenge while playing this game, but if you want something the entire family can have fun with, then head on over and sign up for the beta test.

I am switching my RSS Feed to Feedburner, which means you will need to update your feed links. Click here to update my feed link in your feed reader.

A story came out today that a woman was killed by a rogue laptop computer. Her car was hit by a tow truck, which was not the deadly part.  It seems that her laptop was laying in the backseat, and when her car was hit, it flew up and smacked her in the back of the head. The laptop was the killing blow. This is a sad story, but there are some lessons to be learned here.

You should never leave your computer on your car seat without it being in a case. It would soften the blow if something like this accident happens to you, but it also protects your computer from sunlight and serves as semi-camouflage from thieves. If you must leave your laptop in the car, I recommend placing it on the floor behind the front seat. Keep in mind that heat can negatively affect battery life in computers and cell phones, so don’t leave them in your car for long.

So be safe out there and secure your gadgets.

Now is a great time to think about adding more storage to your computer system. Hard drives are at super low price levels right now, which means you can upgrade on the cheap.  Case in point is this Hitachi 1TB internal hard drive from Newegg for only $69 after $10 rebate and using promo code EMCLRMR54. The promo code is good through 4/22/09.

One terrabyte is 1,000 gigabytes. That is a massive amount of storage! For $70 you can add all the storage you’ll ever need and never worry about running out of space again. This is great for people who download lots of music or videos, or for people who create their own content. High definition video, music, and large photos are big space eaters, which can quickly fill up the smaller hard drives that come with most computers these days. If your hard drive is starting to fill up, consider a hard drive upgrade now. If you don’t need 1TB of storage, there are other great deals on smaller drives, too.

Microsoft today announced that their aging operating system, Windows XP, has officially moved away from Mainstream Support and has transitioned into what they term as the Extended Support level. What this means to you is that Microsoft will no longer offer free support for Windows XP. Any problem you may have with the OS that requires a phone call to Microsoft will also require that you pull out your credit card.

Windows XP has served us well , so don’t free too much over it. The venerable OS has been on the market for over seven years. Microsoft usually only offers five years of mainstream support. They will still provide free security patches via Windows Update, but no new features will be added nor old ones fixed. More information can be found in this article over at Computerworld.

My advice: don’t buy a new computer until Windows 7 (the successor to Vista) comes out. Windows 7 is what Vista should have been. It will be worth the wait and you won’t need to suffer through Vista’s many annoyances.