Just adding a P.S. to my blog posted on June 28 - the day before iPhone's very public debut...

Watched the well-respected Walt Mossberg on Charlie Rose on Friday evening - who must have read my blog :-)

It's a thing of beauty, he confirmed -- but if you live in New York City, or anywhere else that has bad reception or cell problems with AT&T (formerly Cingular) -- you might want to wait before pinning your business calls to an iPhone.

Other flaws revealed: Keyboard (smooth glass interface - no keys to depress) - took the estimable Mr. Mossberg about five days to conquer -- though after that he was pleased enough. No GPS. No instant messaging (You can text message.)

And though it has a wondrous wifi capability, when there is no wifi network around (as, for example, in a bus or a cab), you must depend on AT&T's Edge technology.

Edge, evidently, does not mean "leading edge" -- more like the edge you're likely to leap off when it takes a web page 50 seconds -- or even TWO (count 'em 1...2) MINUTES to load.

Well, you don't have to shell out $600 for the iPhone - you can get the cheap model for a mere pittance: $500.

I still think I'll wait (and I don't mean in line, overnight, on the sidewalk outside the Apple store.)

(Didn't find the Charlie Rose interview from a few hours ago posted on the net -- though it's probably there... but almost as good, I've got the scintillating Mr. Mossberg alone with his iPhone.)

iPhone

Can't wait to see the iPhone - but I'm not rushing out to buy one. Living in NYC, I need a phone with reliable, everywhere service. As much as I love to hate Verizon -- and the emphasis is on "hate" -- the last thing I want is to return to cell service that leaves me yelling "Can you hear me? Can you hear me now??..."
- or staring at a screen indicating "dropped call" or "no service."

Now why would I pay $600 to return to that?

The iPhone costs about $600 -- and features ONLY AT&T service -- and a 2-year contract, no less. Now, I don't have this information first-hand; I got the word from David Pogue at The New York Times.

I'm sure it's a thing of beauty -- but 'til it gets its functional act together, I think I'll wait.

Online Discoveries of the Day

If you don't have a Mac, but wondered how your online pages look on one:
download Safari (Beta version)

I have a Mac -- but this is still pretty neat to have on my PC. Should make my life as a web developer/designer a bit easier.

My second discovery this morning was Eons, the Facebook for Boomers. Personally, I'm a bit shy about these online exchanges, but know it's important to explore and get comfortable with. To anyone of a certain age who has or ever may have a professional online presence: we ignore these at our peril. Not that I would ever use such a forum to shamelessly self-promote....
But perhaps you might like to :-) Just do it carefully, and don't get caught - or you'll get TOS'd out (i.e., to the uninitiated: banned for violating Terms Of Service).

Of course a more appropriate place for this is LinkedIn fo those looking for a job or contract.

Best of luck!

Earthlink browser "hijack"

In yet a new twist on how to invade our privacy, Earthlink has begun to masquerade as a "search assistant" on computers. Suddenly, when mistyping a URL, you may be surprised to discover Earthlink "suggesting" where you might go to find it.

I would like to "suggest" to Earthlink where it might go.

If you are loath to edit your registry to get rid of this unwanted visitor, download and install the newest Adaware 2007. Get the latest updates and run a scan.

Delete the miscreants. Then restart your computer.

It should be free of search "assistants" after that -- and when you mistype a URL, you should now be relieved to see your old friend and mine: "The page cannot be displayed." Funny -- I never before noticed how very pretty that page is.

This Web page could not be saved

Help and advice for anyone experiencing this error using IE 6.0. "This Web page could not be saved"
_____________________________________

Microsoft has published info about this error which does not always apply.

"CAUSE: This problem can occur when you attempt to save a Web page created using Excel 2000 or Excel 2003...."
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If this does not apply to you, here are three possible other causes (and resolutions) to your problem:

1. You may have a script on the page which IE does not like. Try removing it.
2. Your title may be too long. Shorten the page title to 5-7 words.
3. Your hosting company may have moved your CSS to a different server. Make sure this is not the case. If it is, ask them to please move all your site's files to a single server.

Apple TV

For anyone who's thinking of buying an Apple TV: DON'T!

At least not yet. It has a l-o-n-g way to go. The folks who brought you iPods and those sleek, beautifully engineered Macs really blew it this time.

Not only did it take over 4 hours to set it up on a brand new Sony Bravia 42" with HDMI (over a wireless network with a strong signal)-- which Apple said would "guaranteed" work like a charm -- but 2 levels up at Apple Support they didn't know why it didn't work or what was wrong. I finally got it to work on my own (after 4 hours on the phone with Apple)-- and Apple's explanation was "it" (ie, this particular Apple TV set) "had to learn".

I just kept resetting and resetting, and replugging and powering on and off, and eventually it worked.

I used a Bravia, since I had feared a first time setup on an old Sony Wega was bound to fail. Apple had warned me it would not work. Apple was wrong again. It worked. And it was easy.

But my biggest objection: too expensive and too much trouble for so little payback. I just don't see the attraction. The obvious thing this piece of equipment should do is download and play movies like a TiVO -- and Apple didn't want a fight with the motion picture industry and/or the cable industry - so passed on this for now, at least. The only movies you can get on it are those from iTunes (or those you create on your computer).

It's $300 for a 40GB drive. And everytime you sync it, it wipes the drive clean. So, if you want it to add your newest photos or movies/slideshows you've created - it won't simply add new content, but will wipe the slate clean and rewrite. So if you use an external drive, the drive ALWAYS has to be attached -- and you have to WAIT.

Personally, I have better things to do with my time and money. If you want help or more info on Apple TV, streaming and sync options - or other computer help, services, or training, please email us or see more information SamRoitman.com