There are varying opinions of the viability of the partnership between Target and Amazon, but if my local market is any indication – it is a success.  My neighborhood store had completely sold through their initial stock and a check online showed the rest of the market has limited availability or is sold out.  The rest of the national rollout is underway and should be in all Target stores by Sunday.  Target did a 100 door test back in April.

Why it’s a good partnership.

The Target consumer is budget conscious and savvy.  At $259 the Kindle is priced right to get them into the e-book reader platform.  It’s a good partnership for Amazon because it opens up their retail to the person who wouldn’t order it sight unseen – the Target shopper.  The argument that Amazon is too late to market assumes that the target customer is an early adopter or into tech- they aren’t.   

Links of Interest

WSJ.com: Target to Sell Kindle Nationwide

Fool.com:  Amazon Misses Its Target

BNet: Why Kindle’s Availability at Target Will Just Piss Customers Off

Posted via web from Brian Junyor’s Stream

The switch to the netbook as my “desktop” computer means it now competes with space on my desk with the MacBook Pro setup.  When I am at home the MacBook Pro sits on a riser and I use the Apple bluetooth keyboard and mouse while working.  The old Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse that I put on the netbook was too big and bulky to make efficient use of my limited space. 

I made a trip to Best Buy today at lunch to scope out a new keyboard and mouse and ended up going with Microsoft products.  It does seem a little strange to use a Microsoft keyboard and mouse with a Linux machine in an Apple household, but I am blown away by the form factor of both of these. 

Here are the specs from Microsoft:

Arc Mouse

• 2.4 GHz – 30 ft. Wireless Range
• Folds For Portability
• Scroll Wheel
• Battery Status Indicator
• Snap-in USB Micro-Transceiver
• Windows Flip*
• 4 Customizable Buttons
• Comfort for Either Hand
• Designed for Notebook PCs
• Laser Technology
• 6+ Months Battery Life

Arc Keyboard

• 2.4 GHz – 30 ft. Wireless Range
• Battery Life Indicator
• Clean lines and eye catching shape
• Lightweight and Compact
• Stowable Nano Transceiver

Posted via web from Brian Junyor’s Stream

Posted via web from Brian Junyor’s Stream

I upgraded to Ubuntu 10.04 LTS and I am loving it.  One of the things that never really bothered me when I was using the 10 inch screen on the netbook was the “feature” to auto-maximize every window.  Now that i am using it on a large display – it was driving me bonkers.

If you find yourself needing to turn off the auto-maximize feature, here is how:

1. Press Alt + F2 to bring up the Run Application dialog box

2. Type “gconf-editor” without the quotes and press run

That will bring up your Configuration Editor

3. Hit the + beside Apps

4. Scroll down and click on Maximus 

5. Check the box next to “no_maximize”

Then close the Configuration Editor.

Posted via web from Brian Junyor’s Stream

You can read a full review on the app at BBGEEKS.

This post was created using the Blackberry app. One piece of info to mention, to create a hyperlink just type http.

Windows features dialog box

Did you know that Windows Vista doesn’t install a telnet client by default?  Me either, but the steps to enabling it are pretty simple.

1. From the Start Menu, click on Control Panel.
2. Click on Programs and Features.
3. Click on Turn Windows features on or off. (see image)
4. Select the Telnet Client option.
5. Click OK.

—
Open a command prompt, From the Start Menu, type CMD in the “Start Search” box.
Type Telnet, and you’re off to the races.

How does it work?  Here’s a crappy video, see for yourself.

For whatever reason, when you reboot Vista it cannot reconnect to your iDisk.  There are a few posts and complaints out on the interwebs about this topic, but I found a post at macrumors that was particularly helpful.  I’ve modified the steps to work for me and allow me to reconnect automatically so that my sync schedule won’t be interrupted. 

Use at your own risk, as you’ll be putting your password in the path. 

Steps

1. Right Click on your desktop, select New, Shortcut
2. In the “Type the location of the item:” box enter this,
3. net use m: \\idisk.me.com@ssl\username password /USER:username@me.com
4. Edit the username & password & username@me.com to reflect your account info.

   

5. Click Next
6. Name your shortcut, in my case, I chose iDisk
7. Click Finish
8. Click Start, go to All Programs (at the bottom left)
9. Navigate to the Startup folder and right click, select Explore
10. Drag your iDisk shortcut from your desktop to your startup folder

Notes: The persistent parameter doesn’t work, so no need to add that.  You can change the drive letter to whatever you want.  I already had “i:” mapped, so I chose “m:” .  It’s the parameter right after net use.

There are probably several ways to accomplish what I did above, but it was easiest for me.  If you’ve found another way, let me know in the comments.

I like that I can add my current location, links and photos. If only the iPhone had copy and paste, I’d be happy.

The clear acrylic covers both the front and back and the protective screen is flexible enough for finger taps.  You do have to press quite a bit harder than you would without this case.  So far, I like it, but I don’t love it.

I like the complete enclosure, now I can slip it into my pants pocket without having to worry that my keys or the wayward Werther’s Original will scratch it.

I don’t like how hard I have to press to get a response, especially toward the top of the screen.  Using the keyboard isn’t half bad, but if you want to play a game, you’ll need to 86 this case.   The good news is that it’s easy to get the phone in & out.

Pros

• Doubles as a case & screen protector
• Full enclosure, protective touch screen with electrostatic membrane
• Clear acrylic, can see the iPhone in all of its glory
• Click-snap system for easy in & out

Cons

• Protective touch screen has a spongy feel.  Harder finger touch required, especially near the top of the screen.
• Price: $24.99 @ Best Buy – knock $5.00 off and I think it would be reasonable for an acrylic case

Verdict

It depends on what you use your iPhone for.  For texting, emails & calls – it works well.  If your into gaming, or using Safari in landscape mode – this isn’t for you.