A Lot of Work for an MP3 Player

I recently obtained a shiny new laptop running Windows 7, and consequently windows Media Player 12, and I went to do some research on making my MP3 player, a Philips GoGear Jukebox HDD1835/37, work with the new software.

The first thing I found was a warning (using the <marquee> tag, no less) that Media Player 11 would cause problems, and recommending that users stick with version 10 "or the Software that your product came with."

Going a little further into the FAQ, I found a page about Vista containg this helpful nugget of information:

The Microsoft operating system usually comes with a set of software files which allow the operating system to recognize and control the functionality of portable device and those software files are known as native drivers. Windows Vista will also include native operating system support for some Philips products while others will require you to acquire software from Philips.

As software may not be available for some or all of the players, it is recommended to keep your existing Windows version and install Windows Vista in a dual boot configuration in order to retain the functionality of your player.

Let that sink in for a moment: Rather than take responsibility and release updated drivers, Philips is telling people to create a dual-boot system. Do you know how hard it is to create a dual-boot system? Maybe it's not a big deal for the more experienced, tech-savvy users, but for the average end user it's one of those things you just don't do on your own. You can easily ruin computers by messing with that stuff.

It's bad enough that Philips doesn't seem to care about legacy support. (To that effect, the FAQ for my player hasn't even been updated to say anything about Windows 7 or Media Player 12.) But I can't understand why Philips would tell people to make radical changes to their system rather than just trying to get them to buy a newer GoGear. What do you think?

Okay. Google is cool. I admit it.

I used to swear I'd never drink the Google Kool-Aid. Now I'm swimming in it!

First I write a Google Maps-based script for the JB-Nets Web site. Then I start using Google Apps. Now I'm even playing with Google Custom Search Engine.

Just as a little test, I've punched in a few of my favorite Web design sites which you can search using the Google-provided box below:

Anyone know how to get Google stains out of white socks?

Blogging About My Blogger Blog

Hello, everybody! As you can see, I am now the proud owner of a Blogger Blog. As with my other recent experiment, a main reason for having this blog (and the reason for having more than one) is to experiment with different blogging services such as Blogger. So I think it's appropriate that my first post consist of my first impressions of this fine service.

First, the cons:

• Blogger doesn't like <p>. Not only does its editor use line breaks (<br>s) instead of paragraphs, but it seems to strip out the <p>s I add manually in the HTML view.
• The Dashboard interface takes some getting used to. It's not that bad, but it could use some improvement in both usability and aesthetics.
• The Blogger header appears over every page. I've read that it's possible to turn that off, but I haven't yet played with the service enough to figure out how.
• There are only about six templates available in the template designer.
• Only 10 additional pages are allowed. I imagine that's plenty for most blogs, though.

And now the pros:

• Templates are extremely customizable. Each template already includes several variations, page elements can be rearranged at will, and the template designer allows even further customization of colors, sizes, etc.
• The template designer also allows custom style sheets (CSS), which is a pretty powerful tool. 
• Custom HTML. Now that's customization! 
• Custom templates can be uploaded. Just in case the custom CSS and HTML weren't enough.
• The number of settings and options other than template customization is pretty impressive, too.
• OpenID comments are supported.

Disclaimer: Though I've tried to avoid it, I'm sure I am guilty of mentally comparing and contrasting this fine service with WordPress.com. Once I've had more time to learn the ins and outs of each service, I'll try to write up a real comparison.