Technology proceeds faster than government. Regulatory reactions can be ugly. And we pay more for less.
Webcasters turn off streams to send urgent distress call
In response to a impending royalty rate increase that, if implemented, would lead to the virtual shutdown of Internet radio in the U.S., thousands of webcasters plan to go silent next Tuesday, June 26, to draw attention to their industry's plight.
Washington to join online tax project
OLYMPIA -- Washington will join 21 other states in an effort to encourage Internet and catalog companies to not only collect state sales taxes on purchases, but also send them on to the states where the products are delivered. On Saturday, the Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board granted Washington's petition to become a member of the Streamlined Sales Tax Project.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Upgrapes on Safari
Mac users know that the Safari browser works well, after some initial problems with compatibility. But do Windows users want another browser?
Apple has managed to write good software for the PC before -- iTunes comes to mind -- but so far, the Safari beta seems to have more than its share of problems. Missing fonts and security issues have been widely reported. But Apple is patching the issues quickly, and the current version is 3.0.2.
So, is this upgrape really needed?
Apple has managed to write good software for the PC before -- iTunes comes to mind -- but so far, the Safari beta seems to have more than its share of problems. Missing fonts and security issues have been widely reported. But Apple is patching the issues quickly, and the current version is 3.0.2.
So, is this upgrape really needed?
Monday, June 25, 2007
Sometimes the Company Needs an Upgrape
VOIP (voice over Internet protocol) has moved from an obscure idea to a booming business in the last couple of years. Well, as always with new technologies, the playing field is maturing and shaking out.
Some days, the shakeouts seem to be coming fast and furious. Today is such a day. Check these news items out!
Vonage Fights For Its Life
Vonage spent today in court fighting for its life in its appeal of a March ruling that stated the company violated three patents owned by Verizon. The March judgement stated Vonage would be forced to pay $58 million, as well as a $5.5% royalty for each customer going forward. Vonage apparently has some concern that neither the judge nor jury at the trial had any idea what was being talking about. (DSL Reports)
SunRocket out of money?
In his subscription only Daily T1R, Daniel Berringer postulates that SunRocket may have their lights turned out soon. It seems the reports I've been hearing around the Valley are that their CEO has been on the "money trail" around Silicon Valley, but not getting any takers. (DSL Reports)
Google Aquires Grand Central
Tech Crunch is reporting that Google has aquired Grand Central and will integrate it with GTalk and GMail. (DSL Reports)
Some days, the shakeouts seem to be coming fast and furious. Today is such a day. Check these news items out!
Vonage Fights For Its Life
Vonage spent today in court fighting for its life in its appeal of a March ruling that stated the company violated three patents owned by Verizon. The March judgement stated Vonage would be forced to pay $58 million, as well as a $5.5% royalty for each customer going forward. Vonage apparently has some concern that neither the judge nor jury at the trial had any idea what was being talking about. (DSL Reports)
SunRocket out of money?
In his subscription only Daily T1R, Daniel Berringer postulates that SunRocket may have their lights turned out soon. It seems the reports I've been hearing around the Valley are that their CEO has been on the "money trail" around Silicon Valley, but not getting any takers. (DSL Reports)
Google Aquires Grand Central
Tech Crunch is reporting that Google has aquired Grand Central and will integrate it with GTalk and GMail. (DSL Reports)
Friday, June 15, 2007
Sunnyvale, We Have A Problem: Anatomy of an Upgrape
The Palm Treo 700p has had lots of problems since its release last year. And Palm has taken a long while to try and fix them. The assumption has been that Palm was too busy preparing the 755p and the Foleo.
So when the 700p's Maintenance Release was finally issued on June 4, various folks at TreoCentral were giving readers a blow-by-blow account of the installation . . .here are some selected highlights:
*****
*****
. . . and so on, for several more pages . . .
By the next day, Palm had removed the installer files from their web site, leading to this exchange:
*****
*****
I can only think that this will be a case study for somebody one of these days.
So when the 700p's Maintenance Release was finally issued on June 4, various folks at TreoCentral were giving readers a blow-by-blow account of the installation . . .here are some selected highlights:
*****
9:24 am: ohboyohboyohboyohboyohboyohboy....
9:51 am: Still running fine here. Currently on "Programming Modem" step. No issues.
10:07 am: Well, it most certainl did NOT retain my programs and settings.
10:31 am: Two to three minutes left!
10:33 am: Uh oh. I didn't have that last screen shown on the Palm site. Now what? The installer said it was done, and the software revision says 1.10, but is it really?10:34 am: aaaaannnd we have our first unplanned reset.....Trying to get the provisioning set up again but am having problems with it (I see this as a Sprint issue, not the device).
10:36 am: Provisioning seems to be working now. All is good in the world.Although I have FAR from tested all of the update, for my purposes I deem this update "Good and Safe"
10:41 am: I tried to run this and it says I have an unsupported device. It says I have to have a Sprint Treo 700P (which I have) and the update is only for Sprint Treo 700P's. This even after a hard reset.
10:54 am: Uh, I followed the directions to install it from the card, and when I put the card into the phone, nothing happens...
10:57 am: I did not get an updating modem message. I am on minute 33. Am I to worry?
10:48 am: Hmmm I've been at the "Updating Device ROM" "This process will take 5 minutes" screen for almost 10 minutes.... yikes...
10:59 am: endless reboot loop during the reset stage of the rom update. it will not stop. it tried soft reset, hard reset, nothing is working.
11:03 am: I'm in the reset loop... I tried pulling the battery and hitting reset without any luck... anybody find another solution?
11:15 am: Doing my second install now.. 1st one acted very weird
11:18 am: Unrecoverable error. Important: There was an unrecoverable error, please:
1. Disconnect and reboot your device.
2. Restart this updater.
D*MN!
11:33 am: the process took wayyy longer than they said it would (which seems to be common for most users on this thread). seems odd they'd underestimate. haven't they learned anything from Scotty?
11:42 am: I just hit the 60 minute mark, and it has been at the "completing update" phase for at least 10 minutes. This sucks.
11:48 am: Install went brilliantly! Great work on a smooth upgrade path.
11:55 am: 72 minutes. First thing I noticed...my categories were all screwed up. Checking other things now...
11:57 am: Google Maps crashes my Treo.. Before the update Google maps worked great.
12:03 pm: my phone is stuck in a weird loop. Tap the Target -> Sprint Welcome -> Palm -> Access Powered -> Palm -> Tap the Target. I've gone thru this loop 4-times now with no end in sight. Is this normal or should I do a soft reset?
12:09 pm: I've been in this loop for over an hour. I called sprint and they said to come into the store. When I called the store they won't tell me if they have ones to swap out. Does anybody have the retention number?
12:11 pm: Im on hold with Sprint support now, I have the same problem and Ive done multiple hard resets. Ugh...
12:13 pm: Maybe I need to run the installer again? My phone does say that it's running 1.10 FWIW. However, every time I try to turn the phone/radio on, the phone resets. UUGGHH!! Guess I'll run the installer again and see if my luck changes before heading to the store.
12:25 pm: battery trick got me out of the endless reset loops....hopefully the update goes well, has not finished...
12:27 pm: I finally got the update to complete. I had to actually run the updater twice because the first time i ran into the endless loop others have mentioned but the second time all went well..
12:28 pm: I bricked my 700p. I get the endless reset loops and after pulling batteries and hard resets as described above, I finally took it to the Sprint store. They took my phone and told me to come back in an hour.
12:30 pm: My update is at 1:14 and counting...anyone have theres take this long? I've had no errors at all it just ticking away.
12:39 pm: Had my 1st reset. I was scrolling down thur my apps and bingo, she reset.
1:00 pm: Well my 700P is a brick after update. Reboots to screen alignment then tries to start phone (sound and sprint welcome screen) then reboots again.
1:10 pm: My update took 37min37sec and progressed without incident, with PhoneInfo showing v1.10. However after the update, I too noticed my available memory was about 20MB less than before.
1:18 pm: 30 minutes in, phone resets, tap touchscreen to calibrate then: "Unsupported device"
1:19 pm: I've finished my (1st attempt at the) update. I'm now also in the endless loop of death, and removing the battery hasn't fixed it.
1:35 pm: I could never get it out of the looping, even using the battery removal and reset hacks as discussed above. I'm about to go to the Sprint Store and see if they have revived my 700p...
1:40 pm: OK. So far the update has taken 1 hour and 20 minutes. It still hasn't finished. Has it taken this long for anyone else?
1:48 pm: I didn't count how many times my Treo reset while performing the update. I feel confident in saying that it was far less than 30 times, though. And mine took about 55 minutes to 1 hour.
1:48 pm: YE FLIPPIN GODZ!!!! I had some 300 "Hey someone just posted" emails....aaaaarrrrrggggghhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!
1:52 pm: Ok this MR is a piece of SHIAT.. I spoke too soon. Bluetooth connection just dropped after 2 minute Idle.
1:59 pm: It took me 59 minutes. JUST don't touch anything!
2:11 pm: All in all, I can see why Palm delayed this. Imagine how much worse the install bug list must have been a week ago if this was what they ended up with! If not for the helpful folks on this forum, I'd be one of the likely hundreds (more?) lined up in their local Sprint store right now with a looping phone. Yikes
2:19 pm: After 1 hour and 40 Minutes the update stopped functioning. My phone is now in a terminal "Access Powered" loop. I've tried hard reset. However, nothing works. I'm a bit miffed right now. I've got a 40 minute drive to the nearest Sprint store w/techs.
2:38 pm: I did the update (first time didn't work). I do not really notice any improvement at all. It still takes a LONG time to enter blazer, for instance. I also have had severan failed reprovision attemps since updating. Overall, I'm not too excited.
2:45 pm: My T700p is now in endless reset loop. Have tried removing battery. Have done multiple hard resets. Who am I going to call. I suspect the Sprint support folks don't even know this update is out there.
3:19 pm: Add me to the reset loop crew. Upgrade went perfectly via desktop until final stage. I was able to break the reset loop with combo of remove battery, hold down red button and up, click in battery, pray.
3:29 pm: Went flawless for me. backed up using NVBackup, hard reset, applied MR update, restored backup file. All in about 35 minutes.
3:5o pm: It seems as if Palm did a poor job in testing this before they released it. Seems TONS have had resets. I have had endless loops, the phone wont turn on, the digitizer is all messed up, etc etc. So I am trying the hard reset way. Leave it to Palm to screw things up as usual.
4:05 pm: Not quite as many people as are on the line with sprint tech support. I've been on hold with absolutely no one picking up for about a half hour now. This is kinda ridiculous. They should at least pick up to say how long its gonna take.
4:15 pm: i am **** out of luck, i will be move to a red 755p
4:16 pm: Just spent 30 minutes on the phone with Palm Support. He claims "my phone is defective". (I guess it is now!) He says I will need to repair or replace it. Calling Sprint now. If you haven't installed this update. DON'T!
4:41 pm: Well, I'm screwed...The MR went fine, so I decided to finally buy and install SAG 1.12. Had it working fine with TCPMP and my Moto HT820, then I decided to try playing with some of the SAG settings. Bad idea. Somehow I managed to lock SAG up, so I tried a soft reset. Even worse idea. Now I'm locked on the ACCESS POWERED screen, even after multiple soft, warm and hard reset attempts. It just sits there and stares at me. Any ideas? Maybe pulling the battery for a few hours? 20# sledge?
*****
. . . and so on, for several more pages . . .
By the next day, Palm had removed the installer files from their web site, leading to this exchange:
*****
7:41 pm: crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap
7:55 pm: You appear to be in a loop. Take your battery out yet?
*****
I can only think that this will be a case study for somebody one of these days.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Sunrocket's Endless Upgrape
I guess it could be worse, as Sunrocket's VOIP service is still working. But their web site -- the place where one manages voicemails, call forwarding, and the other nifty features VOIP users have come to expect -- has been down for almost a week.
The folks at the Broadband Reports Sunrocket Forum (who invented "upgrape" in the first place) have been screaming their heads off. But no luck so far.
I'm a web designer in another life, and boy, if we messed up a client's site this badly, we'd be out of business.
The folks at the Broadband Reports Sunrocket Forum (who invented "upgrape" in the first place) have been screaming their heads off. But no luck so far.
I'm a web designer in another life, and boy, if we messed up a client's site this badly, we'd be out of business.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
The Palm Foleo
The folks at TreoCentral are beside themselves. Palm just announced a new ... something ... called the Foleo, and I don't think I've ever seen such a negative reaction to a new product before it's even in the stores. This from people who are heavy Palm users -- people who had been waiting semi-breathlessly to see what Palm would come up with.
The Foleo is essentially a $500 subnotebook that is intended to work with Palm's Treo smartphones. But the questions that everyone's asking are:
The Foleo is essentially a $500 subnotebook that is intended to work with Palm's Treo smartphones. But the questions that everyone's asking are:
- What is this product?
- Who will actually buy it?
- and...what kind of silly name is that, anyway?
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Great Upgrapes of History: Upgrades that Weren't
Everybody has their favorite stories of the upgrape that either had major bugs; was slow, bloated or both; had reduced functionality; or didn't work at all.
Some perennial favorites from the mists of the past:
Some perennial favorites from the mists of the past:
- dBase IV
- Quicken 200x
- MS-DOS, any even-numbered version (2.0, 4.0)
- Windows Millenium Edition (ME)
- WordPerfect 6.0
- anything from Microsoft x.0 (but let's be fair, lots of other companies could compete for this one!)
Is the Treo 755p smartphone an upgrape?
It's really too soon to tell, since reviews are just being published today, and the Treo 755p phone itself isn't supposed to be available until Monday, May 14. But many Treo 700p users who have been disappointed with the performance of that phone are waiting to see whether the 755p will be "new and improved," or just an "upgrape."
Reviews:
Reviews:
What's an upgrape?
Back on October 14, 2006, the Voice over IP telephone service Sunrocket announced on their web site that they were planning a "system upgrape." Well, geeks have a notoriously low sense of humor. A whole discussion ensued as to the nature of an upgrape on the Sunrocket board at Broadband Reports. Unfortunately for Sunrocket customers, there was a major, nationwide outage the next day. The Broadband Reports posters, of course, blamed the "upgrape."
Ever since, it's been a bit of a running joke, both at Broadband Reports and at the Sunrocket Forum: every time there is a problem, someone wonders whether Sunrocket is performing another "upgrape."
So, a definition:
Ever since, it's been a bit of a running joke, both at Broadband Reports and at the Sunrocket Forum: every time there is a problem, someone wonders whether Sunrocket is performing another "upgrape."
So, a definition:
upgrape (n., high-tech slang). An equipment or software upgrade that goes sour, by causing a system failure or other undesirable side-effects.This site is dedicated to finding upgrapes everywhere. Post your favorites!
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