Cautionary tale about Google Apps for business

Bad outcome with using free Google Apps for business operations.

A few quick comments:

• Dreamhost is the best way to use free Google App. They give you document hosting, domain registration and control, support and service, and associated Google Apps. (see my kickback deal with promo code KATEVA). I use 'em, I like 'em. Unusual company.
• The connection between Google Apps and domain name is tenuous. App content and services will survive domain divorce.
• Gmail has the same problem. So do all Google services, including identity management. There is no support. That scares me.
• Google Apps pricing is a great deal for a school or even a modest business, but it scales oddly and it's too much for a paid Google Apps family account. I'd like to see Google offer more price/service options.

Facebook documentation: How do Pages work anyway?

Apple, like Galactus, is beyond Good and Evil. Google, by contrast, is the cool-kid-wannabe that sold its soul to the Devil for a pittance.

Facebook though, Facebook was born evil. Alas, it cannot be avoided. For example, I help maintain the Minnesota Inline Skating Club facebook page.

Maintaining that Page has been painful because, as one might expect for a demonic creature, Facebook is essentially undocumented. For example, I couldn't find any explanation of the rules for broadcasting "Page" status updates to "followers". (Admin posts go to all Page followers, but I think non-admin posts either go nowhere or are shared only with personal friends.). Nor could I find explanation of best practices for "Page" ownership. (Use an email address specific to the Organization to create a Facebook account that will manage the Page. The best way to proceed is to use the "Create a Page" link to create a Profile and a Page together.)

Thanks to a Pop17 post, however, I have found a few FB official pages that sort of hint at documentation  ....

• Facebook Platform
• Known Issues on Facebook
• Facebook Pages*

Buried in a post on the last link, I found the Box.net hosted Facebook Pages "manual". I guess FB doesn't have a server. The 10 page "manual" doesn't answer any of the questions I listed above.

* Couldn't they have come up with a more searchable and meaningful term than "Pages"? Like I said, pure evil.

Apple's battery charger - hold off for now

We tried NiMH chargers a few years ago, but we gave up because of high battery defect rates and short battery lifespans.

Apple claimed to address the latter, and I was willing to try them out on the former.

Unfortunately the first two batteries we charged were defective:

Amazon.com: John Faughnan "John G...'s review of Apple Battery Charger 

The first two batteries I charged generated a blinking yellow signal. Either the batteries or the charger are defective; I suspect it's the batteries.

It could be just bad luck, but I suggest waiting a while before ordering a charger.

I'd hold off on this device for a while. Wait until there are at least forty Amazon reviews so we find out how common this problem is.

NAVIGON MobileNavigator and Kensington Dash Mount - my reviews

At this time there are only two automotive GPS iPhone Apps worth considering: TomTom and NAVIGON MobileNavigator. Navigon originally cost about $80, but I bought the US/Canada version on sale for $40. TomTom is about $60 for the same app.

You can purchase real-time traffic and personalized routing services for an additional fee. There is no commitment from Navigon to provide any map updates and no information on map updates on their web site. 


There is no documentation for the MobileNavigator. It desperately needs documentation. Some users recommend the manual for the Navigon 8100T.

We've installed the app on two phones, so the per-phone cost was about $20.  Installation requires 3GB of free space, the installed product uses 1.5GB.

Navigon will not work on an iTouch, but it will work on an iPhone without a data plan. It needs a GPS, but since it has to work even when there's no cell service it's not data plan dependent. My son inherited my 3G but has no data plan, Navigon works on his phone (albeit slowly on startup). The lack of compass doesn't hurt once the car is in motion.

I have had only limited prior use of a traditional GPS device.

Very quickly, my impressions of this app are:

• It feels quite similar to a traditional automotive dedicated GPS. This is not a feature. It is only a 2nd class iPhone citizen. Even Contact integration seems to be an afterthought.
• There's no true search. We've grown so accustomed to search on iPhone Maps.app that we've forgotten how amazing that is -- and how complex. You can't simply enter a street name and choose from all the matches. It's very traditional GPS data entry. It's much easier and faster to find locations on Google Maps, Latitude or iPhone Maps.app than in Navigon.
• The turn directions don't say "take the next exit", they say "right turn in 200 feet".  When approaching exits it may not be obvious whether than's the 1st right exit or the 2nd right exit.
• I believe location services work only with the iPhone GPS. They don't have access to the cell tower triangulation or WLAN location services. So they don't work indoors very well.
• Local "Point of Interest" data in Minneapolis St. Paul is very limited.
• The map voice pronunciation is peculiar. Some local streets names were incomprehensible.
• The graphics are acceptable and visible from a dashboard mount. I remember thinking volume control was a bit odd but I can't remember why.
• Some of the routes we're given have been peculiar. It seems to be avoiding highways.
• You really need a mount to safely use the iPhone as a GPS device. I have ordered the older $21 Kensington car and dash mount because newer models don't fit the iPhone 4. We wanted a device that works with both 3GS and 4. I'll review that separately.
• Your phone gets hot using Navigon while charging. This can be a problem on a hot sunny day if the phone is beneath the windshield. Consider routing air flow to cool the phone.

Overall Navigon needs to be a lot more open about their map update plans. It is at best a 2nd rate iPhone app. The installation package of 3GB is going to be a problem for many users. I'm surprised their map data doesn't compress more than that.

It's worth $20 per phone, but only just worth $40 per phone. It's not worth $80.

Update 8/29/10:

My review of the Kensington dash mount ...

The big appeal of this car dash mount is that it works with both iPhone 3GS/3G and with iPhone 4. Very few devices can do that. 

There are two joints. If you adjust both (don't force it) you can mount this on a van windshield. It has stayed in place for days; the iPhone is a lightweight GPS. It will only adhere to glass or smooth plastic, not vinyl. For any other surface you need to use the adhesive mount, the suction cup will bind to that. 

It is lightweight, and so is the phone. So they'll vibrate, you may need to mount so the phone rests on something. 

The side grips spring out; the button and apparatus feel fragile. I try to only close them as much as needed. 

Works well with a standard Apple power connector. 

Note an iPhone will get hot when used as a GPS in this cradle. The cradle doesn't carry heat away, it is an insulator. You will want to let the windshield air conditioner run to keep the phone comfortable.

Also my route profile was misconfigured to "bicycle speed" and "scenic". I don't know if that was the default or the kids. It explains the peculiar routing
--
My Google Reader Shared items (feed)

iPhone's very annoying calendar color limitation

There are three features of the iPhone Calendar that prove Apple is not made of geniuses ...

1. The maximum alert time is 2 days. Sidekick for DOS 2.1 had longer alert times. If I could kick some engineer's butt for every birthday card I've sent late ....
2. iOS can't handle birthdays for anyone over 77. Let's see - my parents, my aunts ...
3. Calendar colors are assigned per server, not per phone. So my Family Calendar (ActiveSync via Google) and my Corporate Calendar (ActiveSync Corporate) are both assigned the color red [1]. I can't tell them apart visually.

Not only are these stupid blunders, they've been stupid blunders for over a year.

No, Apple is not made up of geniuses. Neither is Google. Both companies have lots of limitations.

[1] Quick tip: Calendar color fix for iPhone and iPod touch
... Calendar on the iPhone will assign colors in a certain order for your first five calendars: red, orange, blue, green, and purple. Afterward, any more calendars are assigned a random color out of those five. To manipulate this, use iTunes to sync only selected calendars in the “Info” tab. First sync the one that you want to be red, then sync again including your second calendar that you want to be orange, and so forth. You can create extra calendars to use to “skip” a color if you wish, then delete later at your leisure...

OS X drag folder to file save dialog - sometimes I love this OS

There are a lot of times I'm really irritated by OS X. Significant chunks of it (ex: Parental Controls) are fubared. Some unchangeable configurations (Spotlight) are annoying. Lots of embedded functionality needs to be stripped out into a separately sold product (iChat).

Sometimes though, it's a real pleasure.

I wanted to save a file to a folder I had open in a window. I dragged the target to the "Save As" dialog window and, as expected, the context changed so I could save to it.

There are other ways to duck file navigation, but this is a very useful method. I don't think it's at all new. I think I read of it years ago. I just rediscovered it because it felt like it should work.

If only the rest of OS X worked so well.

Things I hate: Shinywitebox's novel DRM for iShowU

I like paying for good software. It's a quirk, I admit.

I don't even mind well done Digital Rights Management. Without copy protection the novel software I love would die. I'm okay with how FairPlay works for iPhone apps and movies. I'm fine with long software keys -- I keep mine in a Google Doc I can access anywhere.

Where I go bonkers though is when otherwise good companies decide to introduce novel DRM methods, such as key distribution methods. I can tolerate online registration and binary keys for subscription services like Spanning Sync, but I blow a capillary when vendors like Shinywhitebox, makers of the once excellent and inexpensive iShowU screencasting software, do things like this ...

Licensing & Refunds

... At purchase time, we create an account for you on our system so that you can get instant access to your purchase history and retrieve lost unlock keys if need be. You use these same account details to unlock the product (over the internet). After starting the application, click on the “Unlock ..." button that appears in the first dialog, then enter your email address and password (these are the login details you setup when you purchased from us)...

Additionally, at the time of purchase we send out an email with your current set of “unlock keys”. This is simply an alternative method, which you can use on machine that don’t have an internet connection. If you have purchased a product but have not received your unlock keys please first check your spam folders, and failing that, contact support with the transaction number of the sale.

The keys are XML files.

To add aggravation to injury, SWB has enforced this transition for version 1 of their software, now in legacy mode. When I ran my old software I accepted offered upgrades, thinking I was getting some bug fixes. Along the way I got an entirely new registration process and my old key failed. I had to request a new key (support responded within 10 minutes late at night, which is a bit beyond the call of duty).

Come on gang. Please don't do this to your customers. I like paying to upgrade products I like (in their case the new HD product upgrade fee is a pittance), but I really don't have time for this - just time to rant about it.

Please don't make registration process changes part of "free" updates to legacy products. Please don't institute unique DRM procedures that break the way I track the 200 or so software products I've purchased. Just don't.

Here's hoping SWB is reconsidering ...