There are purely cross-browser Web sites, ones which can be viewed and function the same no matter the browser brand or version they are viewed in. Then there are Web sites that have small quirks or functionality that only work in some Web sites.

Then there are some that only work in one browser. When someone who builds Web sites thinks about this, they typically chalk it up to bias or sloppy work on the part on a single developer/designer. But Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer? TechCrunch has the screenshot of what Wal-Mart's new video downloads site looks like in the Firefox browser.

After walmart.com was down most of Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) last year, why does this not surprise me?

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Podcasting has been of mind lately, as I pondered an accompanying podcast to The Hot Iron blog. A monthly or semi-monthly podcast featuring highlights of recent posts and perhaps some unique content was my running thought.

Then along comes a new, free service to automatically convert the words of blog posts to an audio file. Odiogo takes my RSS feed and creates an MP3 file with a digitized voice reading the text of each blog post. About a week after signing up for the service, I am in the program, and MP3s of the last ten posts are now available – you can follow this link to Odiogo or subscribe to their feed.

How does it sound? You can tell it is a digitized voice, but it is very clear and it speaks "difficult" words well, like Maddaloni. I put my last name, which people have been mispronouncing all my life, into my last post to see how it sounds, and it was better than I have heard from many people. The service is free to bloggers, and there is an ad program available to blogs with high traffic, sounding similar to Feedburner’s ad program.

Give it a listen and I am eager to hear your feedback.

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Last month, after much thought and dragging friends through my thinking, I bought a Palm Treo 680 smartphone. It coincided with my switch to T-Mobile. It has been a good month using the phone, and here is my feedback and rants about the device.

My decision to buy the 680 is built on my 10+ years of using a Palm handheld device, including the Treo 600 I had for the last 2 years. Though not multi-threaded and simple in the minds of many, I like the Palm operating system, or whatever it is called these days. Oh, and I should say that I did purchase the phone, and it was not given to me and I am not writing this in return for the freebie.

Here’s what I like best about the 680:

• I lock my device, and when you power it on, you see the date and time, which is why I turn it on half the time.
• The nub antenna, an ugly mainstay of other Treo models, is gone.
• The SD card slot is on the side with a protective cover, meaning it won’t pop out when I lightly tap the phone.
• When I switch it to silent mode, the phone vibrates to confirm.
• I was able to buy an unlocked phone (directly through Palm) which means I can use it anywhere in the world no matter the provider.
• As it runs the Palm OS, I was able to charge the battery, HotSync it and all my information was there with no problems, though I did backup the Palm database folder on my PC just in case of problems.
• I can hear much better on it than on my old 600.
• It supports video, unlike the 600, and its quality is ok for quick video clips.
• The cradle charges a spare battery.

And here’s what I am not a big fan of on the 680:

• Low battery life, which is drained quite a bit by Web surfing and Bluetooth. Get a spare battery and charge it in the cradle.
• The email program does not allow you to change the font sizes and is small for my aging eyes.
• The red or hang-up button is used quite a bit, especially when unlocking the phone, however it is a tiny button for something that is used a lot.
• The green or dial button is NOT used much, especially as you can start a call without it, and just sits there.
• There is no reset button, a long mainstay of the Palm, and you have to yank out the battery to reset the device.
• The earphone jack is still on the bottom, which means you can’t charge the phone in the cradle and use an earpiece.

These are a things with which I am indifferent:

• Bluetooth – I've received mixed reviews over the Bluetooth earpiece from people I talk with, but I bet the first time I print from the device I will be happy.
• The model number – 680. Why? Palm went from the 600 to the 650 to the 700, then back to the 680. It does look a lot like the 750 which is available outside the US – is it the same?

Overall I like my phone, a vast upgrade from my old one, and I recommend it to anyone who does not need CrackBerry push mail and a nice looking, serious smartphone.

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Fresh off the TechCocktail networking event last night in Chicago, I have been pondering the state of the "tech community" here in Chicagoland. But as I was thinking in all kinds of direction on the topic, I slapped myself and came back to the reality that the online world, stripped of its technology, is very much like the offline world.

Do you know your neighbors? Think about it – people that may live in the next apartment, condo or house from you, do you know them, and if so to what degree? What about the person in the next office or cubicle? Or the person you greet every day when you get your coffee, dry cleaning or lunch?

If you don't know them, why is it? Did you try to initiate a relationship and they did not reciprocate? Or vice versa?

It is easy to dismiss the tech community as anti-social or people who would rather interact with avatars than people. Where there are some people like that, those people exist in society in general. There are social tech people, and they are organizing events, networking and starting sites like WindyBits to help foster the community.

I believe there is hope. Now I need to get back to sending emails and notes to people I met last night.

Diversions • Technology • (3) Comments • Permalink

This just in from Intuit... if you are using a version of QuickBooks prior to 2006, you will have problems if you upgrade to Windows Vista. To quote the email from the Senior VP of QuickBooks:

Since QuickBooks 2006 and earlier versions were developed
and released before the introduction of Windows Vista,
these versions may be adversely affected when used on
a computer running Windows Vista.

(it was centered and bolded in the email)

Most users aren't compelled to upgrade QuickBooks or Quicken every year, mainly due to the fact that if you want to use the same functionality, what has really changed? I heard one time in the early 2000's that Quicken hadn't changed since the mid 1990's.

Not that I needed another reason not to upgrade to Vista.

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