Archive for the ‘Review’ Category

Google Real-Time Beta Overview – Impressions

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

I have to say that i am very impressed with the new BETA version of Google Analytics and the Real-Time overview. I will be showing you a few screenshots below, using my blog’s domain as the example.

Overview – Online Right Now

Google Analytics - Online Right Now
It shows you both new and returning visitors.

Top Referrals and Keywords

Google Analytics - Referrals

Pageviews and Top Active Pages

Google Analytics - Pageviews

Top Locations

Google Analytics - Places

The cool thing is that all the data is real-time meaning you can simply sit and watch your site’s traffic change on the fly. No more slow refresh of analytic data! I knew the day would eventually come. There are many other features in the BETA, the real-time view is simply one of them. I highly recommend checking it out!

Geekdesk Review – Ongoing Review

Sunday, July 31st, 2011

I have now used the GeekDesk for an entire two weeks. And no joke, I haven’t lowered it once. I was actually standing from 8 to noon, and 1 to 5+, Monday through Friday. There are so many positive things to say about this setup. I am going to highlight the biggest ones.

GeekDesk Arrival and Setup

The GeekDesk delivery was great. We got the 78.75″ W X 32.5″ Large Top version. Took about 5 days to arrive after they shipped out. Driver called when he was 30 minutes out and my coworker and I met him at our loading dock. We assembled the desks within an hour. (make sure you have a power drill for mounting the surface). Also the directions were a little weird. At one point it says, “step 4 will make more sense once you reach step 5.” You turn the page and discover, there is no step 5 lol. But either way, the desk is really easy to assemble.

You can view my setup in the picture below. My coworker and I both use whiteboards a lot and so it is nice to simply be standing, turn sideways, and immediately start using the whiteboard. And yes, I am one of the few in America who actually like Cherry 7up.

My GeekDesk Setup

No More Afternoon Fatigue!

I am always very sleepy after lunch. Especially when eating at some of those not so good fast food joints. Standing this week, I felt amazing right after lunch. In fact, since I had food in my stomach and I was standing, I actually felt like I had more energy. Same thing applies early morning. Drink my coffee while standing and I’m like a work horse!

Lowering and Raising Desk

I lowered my desk a couple times after getting my workstation setup just to see how it would operate. It goes down and up pretty fast, and a very smooth transition.

Does it wobble?

For me, all that matters is that it doesn’t wobble when I am typing. And it doesn’t, so I am happy. If you lean on it, it wobbles slightly, but very little. My coworker has the smaller frame at home and he says it is a little more sturdy than the large one.

Standing Mats

My coworker, who has the same version of the desk, brought in some standing mats. I can stand all day, but the standing mats make it a lot more comfortable. I highly recommend them.
The ones we are using are the Premium 3/8″ Multi-Use. You can get a six pack for around $25.00. We purchased them from Get Rung.

Get Rung Mat

Monitor Stand

I haven’t yet purchased this, but my coworker has and he said they work pretty good. It is the Allsop Metal Art Monitor Stand. Cheap and does the job. You can buy it at Amazon.com.

Allsop Metal Art Monitor Stand

Final Conclusion

In conclusion I have nothing negative to say about the desk. The only thing I can think of is if you have coworkers who like to play practical jokes. You might want to strategically place your raise/lower button; otherwise you’ll find yourself leaving for the restroom, coming back and your desk is all the way on the ground :) . I only wish I would have purchased this desk sooner. I am currently saving for the smaller version for my home office. I will update this post again in 6 months to see if I have any different views after using the desk for that long.

*** 3 Week Update ***

Still haven’t lowered my desk once. More productive and not as tired… Gotta get one for home now on the weekends. Will post back in another week.

*** 2 Month Update ***

I have been lowering my desk a little now I admit it. But I am usually standing all morning and then end up sitting from around 2:30 to 5. So I am still standing for 75% of the day and wouldn’t have it any other way. One of the best purchases for an office you can have.

Visit GeekDesk to Purchase Yours Now!

Multirow Bookmarks Toolbar 3.8 – Firefox Add-on

Friday, July 17th, 2009

If you are like me then you probably have a lot of websites you visit on a regular basis. I hate typing in web addresses or browsing through my bookmark folders. I love using my BookMarks Toolbar for quick and easy access to all of my websites. The problem is that I soon ran into having too many bookmarks. The Multirow Bookmarks Toolbar Add-on for Mozilla Firefox works great. It easily stacks your bookmarks toolbar depending upon how many bookmarks you have. Works great in Mozilla Firefox 3.5.1.

Mozilla Firefox Bookmarks Toolbar

Mozilla Firefox Bookmarks Toolbar

Download the Multirow Bookmarks Add-On

VLC is pixelated compared to MPC

Saturday, July 11th, 2009

I have been using K-lite mega codec pack with Media Player Classic for the past 2 years or so. With the release of VLC 1.0 I thought I would give it another shot. For the most part, the memory usage was a lot better than it used to be. Playing a TV episode of “The Office”, memory usage with VLC 1.0 was only about 15MB more than MPC. Playing the movie “Transformers” in 1080p the memory usage with VLC 1.0 was only about 30MB more than MPC.

There are two things you need to enable to make the media in VLC render more smoothly.

  • Tools : Preferences: Video: Output: OpenGL Video Output
  • Tools : Preferences: DeinterlacingMode: Blend

One thing I like about VLC is that it is easy to download, distribute, and use. With Media Player Classic, you have to make sure you have a codec pack for media to play. For me that is not an issue, but for the standard user, codec packs and knowing how to use them, can sometimes be confusing. If you haven’t tried VLC 1.0 yet, you might want to take a second look.

VLC Player

VLC Player

AdminStudio 64-bit – No Native Support Yet

Monday, June 29th, 2009

As far as I can see AdminStudio 9.0, made by Acresso has yet to develop a repackager that works natively on a 64-bit OS. You can repackage MSI’s on a 32-bit host and they will run on a 64-bit OS, but in 32-bit mode. I am hoping in the near future that this will change as I have some 64-bit apps that I would like to repackage for silent installations.

Acresso Logo

Apps4Rent.com offers competitive SharePoint Hosting Plans

Monday, June 29th, 2009

With SharePoint becoming increasingly popular in today’s business world; I was doing some research on SharePoint Hosting plans and came across www.Apps4Rent.com. They are a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and their Data Centers are located in the heart of New York City. They offer four plans from Silver, Gold, Platinum, to Platinum + which are great for small or medium sized businesses. One convenient feature they offer is the ability to have unlimited users no matter which plan you choose. They offer 24/7 support via email and phone and offer many other services; from Hosted Exchange, Hyper-V Hosting, Application Hosting and Web Hosting. This company’s services look promising and it looks as though they are ready to adapt to the latest changes in technology.