I wanted to know what this “Vook” thing is about, and after reading several conflicting comments from reader/viewers I decided I’d check it our myself. Within minutes of that decision, I popped $4.99 to download a Vook to my iPhone.

I chose a Romance Novella as my test case, Promises by Jude Deveraux. As always, the App Store made it way too easy to drop five bucks on a whim. The download took a while—at 108MB, this is HUGE compared to most iPhone apps—but it installed without any complication or complaint.

The complaints began shortly after a quick look-see, when I went to the online Vook site and discovered that buying the iPhone edition gave me absolutely nothing if I wanted to read my purchase on the web-based platform. To evaluate the web version of the same book I’d just bought for my iPhone would cost me an additional $6.99. In a world where I can buy an e-book from Amazon and in moments I can read that book on my iPhone while Sharon reads the same book on her Kindle 2, I found that unacceptable and refused to play (or pay). That’s really a shame, because from what I’ve seen, the web-based platform is much more video-integrated and has more potential than the iPhone version. If someone from Vook would like to toss me a comp, I’ll be glad to take a separate look at the online platform–but the inability to read the same purchase on both platforms is a real deal-killer for me.

Exploring  Vook for iPhone

Unlike most of the other e-books I’ve read, Vooks are stand-alone applications (as opposed to reader apps that can select from a library of books). When you launch the app, it displays the lovely title screen shown above. It’s good that it’s a pretty screen, because unless you read the entire vook in one uninterrupted sitting, you’ll get to see this screen a lot. On my iPhone 3G, it takes around ten seconds of this screen before the app loads.

After the App loads, it presents a chapter listing and demonstrates what is, to me, a serious weakness. The Vook app can’t remember what you’ve read, the way virtually every other e-reader app can do. This is a major annoyance, particularly if you’re the type who likes to sneak in a page or three at slow traffic lights or while answering nature’s call. You can’t even fold down the corner of a virtual page.

Once a chapter is selected, the user enters the actual reading interface, a straightforward screen where all the usual iPhone finger movements work to change pages. Vook, however, does not support landscape mode. To view videos (which only play in landscape mode), the reader touches the play buttons when they appear.

Vook uses the built-in iPhone video player, which means leaving the reader to view video, then returning to the reader. The lack of video integration makes for a nasty roadbump that pulls the reader out of the story every time he or she views a video clip. That might be okay for non-fiction, but for fiction, it’s quite disruptive.

The Story: Promises by Jude Deveraux

Promises is a Romance Novella, and like most romances is horribly predictable. I found that disappointing. I expected a story written specifically for a new, cutting-edge platform to be a bit more creative, or even a little outside-the-box.

Promises is written in an omnipotent point of view, meaning that the narrator can see the thoughts, feelings, and reactions of every character in a scene. This isn’t the first romance I’ve read that does this; Nicolas Sparks comes to mind as another best-selling author who’s fond of this method. What I find interesting is that all the modern mentors who are molding the writers of next week spend a great deal of time spanking new writers for doing exactly the same thing (they call it “head-hopping”). I seldom read omnipotent POV, and when I do I find it annoying. I occasionally have to stop and go back a few lines because an abrupt head change has jarred me out of the story. Personally, I think it takes a lot more skill to tell a story one head at a time, but you may feel free to disagree.

The Text & Video Marriage

The big question with which I began this exploration concerned how the video content and story content would merge in a Vook. The video content was well-produced and highly creative, but when married to the text it not only didn’t enhance the story, it detracted from it. Every time I stopped reading to launch a video, it knocked me out of the story. While this may be less the case with the video more integrated into the text (such as the web version), I found another phenomenon: The video images sometimes conflicted with my own mental pictures. I’m a very visual reader (and writer), and I create my own visualizations of settings and characters. Frankly, mine are better than the filmmaker’s, because they’re mine. They reflect my thinking, life experience, and personal creativity. This was my greatest disappointment with the concept.

The Verdict

Pros:

• Pocket size
• Colorful and pretty
• Lots of potential for non-fiction application

Cons:

• No interplay of iPhone and web-based formats; you have to pay twice for the same product to use both readers. Vook claims it’s because the two use different selling platforms, but Amazon seems to have worked this out with the Kindle.
• No capability to bookmark last read page.
• Lack of video integration jars reader from story
• Videos pull reader out of the story and conflict with reader’s imagination

The Vook is an interesting concept, and I can see its application for non-fiction, particularly in how-to, travel, and history books. For fiction, it’s a flop. The web-based version may be better (I haven’t experienced it), with text and embedded video displayed on the same screen.

Hmm… text and embedded video on the same screen. Interesting idea.

I think Vook may have invented the web page.

Today is the day!

It’s here!

The big shutdown of Analog Television has arrived!

(Yawn.)

Okay, be honest: Are you ready for the digital television conversion?

Yeah, I thought you were.

Anyone who doesn’t know that by midnight tonight all full-power analog TV transmitters will be shut down has to be Amish—and I have it on good authority that the Amish are sick and tired of the DTV transition, too.

Still, on Wednesday of this week, the Nielsen Company released research showing that 2,8 million American households are “completely unready for the transition.” While 2.8 million might seem like a lot, it’s only 2.5% of TV-equipped households. After all those months of annoying crawls, PSA’s and special programs, can they still say “we didn’t know” with a straight face? Perhaps they’re waiting for President Obama to personally deliver and install their converter box.

One explanation for at least a part of that 2.5% is that Low Power TV (LPTV) stations aren’t required to shut down their analog signals yet, and some of those unconverted households might be in rural areas served only by LPTV. They could also be in larger markets but prefer to watch only their favorite LPTV channel. They could also be waiting for the change so they can claim discrimination. There are also those who believe those converter boxes are “the government trying to spy on us.” Seriously, I’ve heard people say that!

For me, there is a sad aspect of this historic day. People are so sick and tired of hearing about the DTV transition that they just want it to be over. Many have missed the great historical significance of the day, the great and honorable tradition that is being laid to rest. When the first round of analog shutdowns occurred here back in February, I watched some of them and was horribly disappointed. At the appointed time, they just flipped the switch. No ceremonial moment, no salute to the generations that brought television to this historic milestone. Just a quick cut to snow and a licensee who’s delighted to lose that chunk of the electric bill.

I wonder what the true poineers of television would have to say about this day?

Philo Farnsworth, the man who, at 13 years of age, conceived the concept of image scanning and reconstruction upon which analog TV is based, went on to develop the first working electronic television system. Farnsworth didn’t get the credit due him because he was an ethical man, a genius who didn’t have the deep pockets (or lack of integrity) of David Sarnoff’s RCA. When fellow inventors from RCA asked to tour his laboratory and see his device in operation, it never occurred to Farnsworth that they might illicitly copy some of his technological developments. Farnsworth and RCA spent years in court over those infringements, and eventually Farnsworth won.

Philo Farnsworth would be fascinated with the new technology. Ever the inventor, he’d be in it up to his eyeballs and be having a blast seeing it in action. He’d probably improve on it, too.

Another big name in early TV development was Dr. Vladimir Zworykin, a Russian-born scientist who worked for RCA and developed much of their early television technology (including the parts based on designs “acquired” from Farnsworth). I believe that Zworykin’s reaction to today’s television might be found in an interview some time after his retirement in 1954. What follows is not a transcript, but it’s mighty close:

Interviewer: “Of all the many inventions to your credit in the world of television, what invention gives you the most satisfaction?”

Zworykin (heavy Russian accent): “Da Svitch.”

Interviewer: “What?”

Zworykin: “Da Svitch.”

Interviewer: “I don’t understand.”

Zworykin: “You know, Da Svitch, so I can turn the damn think off.”

I hope those engineers who use “da svitch” today will do so with reverence and respect, because without Analog TV, the world would be a very different place today. Whether better or worse is a never-settled debate—but it would definitely be different.

Rest in Peace, Analog.

What I’m not a fan of is deceptive advertising, particularly the kind that misleads people and could cause them harm. I understand that every ad is biased, but there’s a difference between saying “our car is safer” and saying “Our car is so safe you don’t need to wear a seat belt.” That’s one area where I have a problem with Apple and their advertising strategy. Their ads are biased, as you’d expect—but they are also deceptive. Take this recent example:

Cute, isn’t it? A brilliant piece of advertising propaganda. There’s just one small problem:

This ad is only half true, and Mac users who believe Apple is telling them the whole truth are setting themselves up for a nasty, eye-opening day of reckoning.

The “Macs are Immune” claim isn’t new. I had this debate 4 years ago with an avid Mac evangelist with great creative gifts but no technical background. Apple said it, he believes it, that settles it. Unfortunately, there are a lot of Mac users in that camp, good people without a lot of technical savvy who love their Macs and trust Mac’s maker to tell them the truth.

What urged me to write this entry is an alarming online comment I saw recently, posted by an intelligent and highly competent, tech-savvy CEO whom I hold in high regard. He was installing the recently-released Windows 7 Release Candidate on his Intel-based Mac using Parallels, a Virtual Machine application for Mac OSX. The red-flag phrase that caught my attention was his bemoaning the fact that he also had to install anti-virus software, since he’s installing Windows, “an OS that, unlike Mac, is vulnerable to viruses, spyware, and malware.” It’s the Apple company line, but I was surprised to hear it regurgitated by someone so well-informed. As an IT Professional, I have to tell you with all due respect that it’s simply not true.

Yes, unprotected PC’s are susceptible to viruses and malware, but unprotected Macs are just as susceptible. Any computer operating system is susceptible to such attacks, regardless of the operating system, if attackers have targeted that system.

There are fewer viruses and malware threats targeting MacOSX. That’s not surprising, since the goal of such threats is to infect as many machines as possible as quickly as possible. According to data released by Net Applications, as of May 2009 MacOS has a 9.81% share of the computing market, while Microsoft Windows still leads the pack with 87.75%. If you want to infect the largest number of machines and do the most damage, it only makes sense to target the operating system used by the largest number of people.

Macs by no means have automatic immunity. There are, and have been since 2006, active viruses and malware threats in the wild targeting MacOSX. Apple routinely generates security updates (patches to fix security flaws) for its products, just like Microsoft does. Apple just doesn’t like to talk about it as openly. Apple’s market share is slowly creeping upwards, and as it grows the likelihood of Mac-targeted attacks will grow as well. If you’re relying on that Apple logo to protect you, you’re in for a rude awakening one of these days.

I’m by no means a Microsoft evangelist. My day job includes technical management of around 200 machines in a broadcasting facility, and all but one use Microsoft Windows (a mix of Windows 2000, 2000 Server, XP Pro, and 2003 Server. The one non-Windows box is SCO Unix). I’m quite familiar with Microsoft’s shortfalls. There is no such thing as a perfect computer with perfect software and a perfect operating system. I have great respect for Apple’s OSX. Underneath that well-crafted user interface, OSX is based on BSD Unix, one of the world’s oldest and most revered computer operating systems. If Apple sold it as a stand-alone product to run on non-Apple hardware, I’d buy it—but I’d protect it with good antivirus software.

If you are a committed Mac lover, I’m glad you have something you love that works for you—after all, these things are tools, not life partners. The Apple logo on your computer is not an Immunity Idol. Protect yourself with the two things every computer should include: good anti-virus software, and good sense on the part of the user.

Whatever the operating system, remember that most security threats are basic gullibility tests. Be careful what you click!

Take a glance at this actual scan of the letter. Looks remarkably like an invoice, doesn’t it? Downright official. It even has a logo that resembles an American flag, so it must be legit.

Only one small problem. I own a total of nine domain names, all registered through my domain registrar of choice, PairNIC. This letter is from the Domain Renewal Group, a company with which I’ve never done business. This helpful bunch wants to come to my aid and make sure my precious domain name doesn’t expire, but if you look a little deeper what they really want is to switch my domain name registrar and harvest whatever they can from my wallet.

Back in the days when long-distance telephone providers routinely called during dinner and offered to “help” us by switching our long distance service to BillyBobTel, the phone companies called this practice “Slamming.” The tele-scammer tricked people into giving them permission to change their provider—and sometimes, they put the change through even without that permission. This underhanded practice led to legitimate telephone companies providing an option to disable changes in provider without your express permission. As people became more aware of that option the sucker pool dried up and the scam artists moved on to more lucrative schemes.

Domain Name Slamming is a gold mine for those with no moral or ethical anchors. The fine print—and not-so-fine print—of this letter is a marketing masterpiece. There is absolutely nothing illegal about DRG’s letter or the “service” they offer. The necessary disclaimers are there, out in the open, positioned where they are easily overlooked. The fine print you agree to when you sign the dotted line obligates you to pay their legal expenses if they are sued in connection with the services provided to you, and of course there’s the money-pumping “all fees are non-refundable” clause. Many registrars have “locks” on transfers that you must specifically clear before initiating a transfer, and DRG’s attempt to transfer will fail—but if that happens, they get to keep your money.

How to Protect Yourself

• READ CAREFULLY. Don’t let the slick invoice-like look fool you.
• If someone else pays your bills, educate them about this scam.
• Know your domain registrar, and deal only with that registrar.
• Beware benevolent strangers who offer to help you manage your domain for a fee.
• Contact your registrar and put a transfer lock on your domain to prevent unauthorized transfer.

But things have changed.

I started out with a grand plan to blog my way through the week, posting pictures of the beautiful facilities here at Ridgecrest, and pictures of me with impressive writer-types and and such, and pictures of the goings on here at the conference for the benefit of a few folks who wished that they could be here. It was a wonderful plan.

Then it happened.

It was late Monday when I finally got back to my room and sat down at the ol’ laptop. I noticed that it was warm–an unusual thing, since it was supposed to be sleeping at the time. I opened the lid and saw a black screen with a little window in the middle that referenced some obscure internal Windows process that had failed, and the machine was hopelessly locked inside its own brain.

The only thing I could do was reboot. That yielded an ugly “blue screen of death.” The internal diagnostics told the story: “DST Short Test Failed.” Translation: Hard Disk failure. Ouch.

I called Dell Support Tuesday morning, and on Wednesday a shiny refurbished drive and a set of re-installation disks was dropped off at the front desk by DHL. Later on Wednesday, I had a functioning computer again, albeit without most of the software I use routinely, and without a buncha my files. Not to worry, though. Once I get home, I have the means to extract most of the files from this sickly drive before I return it to Dell. But, that will teach me to go off without doing a FULL backup.

So, my plans were scuttled, but that’s okay. Seriously, I don’t mind. True, I was cut off from the rest of the virtual world for a few days, but that left me with nothing to do but focus on the conference and getting the most out of my classes and pitches. I survived quite nicely, much to my surprise.

And, it’s been a fabulous week. I’ve gotten to meet a few folks I’ve met with online, I’ve had the opportunity to rub shoulders with the likes of James Scott Bell, McNair Wilson, and Dr. Ted Baehr. I’ve met with some great editors and agents, and I’ve been asked to send proposals for my current novel-in-birth. I’ve been educated, challenged, inspired and refreshed.

And frankly, I would rather not leave Ridgecrest and go back to the real world. . . but I know I must.

I was talking with a girl at the front desk the other day, commenting on how much I love Ridgecrest and wish I didn’t have to leave, when I came to a startling realization. If I were able to stay here on this mountaintop, sooner or later I would take it for granted and lose my deep and reverent respect for the place. You can’t know you’re on the mountain if you’ve never been in the valley, and you never know how special a place is if you’ve never been to places that aren’t special.

All that makes me wonder. Am I missing something wonderful and amazing right in my own neighborhood? Is there a place right where I spend most of my time that’s just as special as Ridgecrest? I’ve got a feeling that there is, and I pray that the Lord will give me the vision to see it and make the most of everything he’s gifted me with.

One thing I’m certain of–there’s a wonderful spot in Little Rock where I long to be, and my yearning to be there is stronger by many times than my desire to stay at Ridgecrest. And it’s because of that wonderful spot that I will soon say goodbye to this blessed mountaintop and head for the airport. I’ll be on my way to the best place in the world. Right next to my soul-mate, my lover, my best friend–My wife Sharon. Wherever she is, that’s where my heart longs to be.

Dorothy was right. There’s no place like home.

I’m waiting patiently (well, alright… notso patiently) for Cingular to release their Cingular 8525, a WM5 PDA phone with HSDPA. It will be the first actual hand-held data device (I don’t count phones with WAP browsers as data devices) to use the new 3G service. I want one. I can’t stomach Blackberry’s devices, because they have lousy web browsers and no third-party software. WM5 isn’t the best thing on the planet, but it’s manageable and there are lots of excellent applications, many that I already have on my Dell Axim X50v PDA.

Hey, Cingular… want a real-world beta tester? Maybe a technically-qualified endorser? An engineer with a big mouth?

So far, HSDPA has been encouraging. I’m looking forward to experimenting with using it for remote broadcast audio — it could be just what we’ve been waiting for in Little Rock.

It’s always sad when something wonderful comes to an end, like a great film or a pint of HaagenDas Sorbet. The Sandy Cove Writer’s conference is over, and that is a sad thing in many ways. I have some wonderful new friends that I won’t see again for a long time, and I still haven’t had my fill of the magnificent views of the Chesapeake Bay that are such an integral part of the Sandy Cove experience. On the other hand, I really miss my beloved Sharon and the kitties. I’m not looking forward to Little Rock’s heat (it’s 91 there now, 74 at the Cove), but I can’t wait to be back home with my soulmate and our little friends.

There’s so much I want to say about Sandy Cove, but I’m too tired to do it justice. I’ll hold off on anything further until I’ve slept and decompressed, lest an editor happen by and see anything less than my best work. But make no mistake — I’m going to miss Sandy Cove and the wonderful new friends I made there. If you’re one of them, give yourself a hug for me.

Unfortunately, WiFi Catcher can’t discern between “open” and “open but not free” WiFi. ATL has a great WiFi system that is wide open if what you want is airport and flight information. It politely hijacks you browser to present the airport’s website and lots of detailed info on flights, services, and all the other “stuff” you might need to know about an airport when travelling. But, if you want more access, you need to select one of several WiFi vendors and, if you don’t already have an account, pay around $5.00 a day for access. In airport dollars, five bucks isn’t bad, given the cost of a cup of coffee and a sandwich. Still, I’m too cheap to drop five bucks if I don’t have to. And I don’t have to with the D820.

After calling Sharon to reassure her that I made it to Atlanta alright, I popped the SIM out of my phone and slipped it into the D820′s SIM slot, hidden under the main battery. After firing back up and starting the built-in Cingular HSDPA card, I was soon a happy camper. At first, I thought that there was no 3G service available, as the applet indicated that it was connected to the EDGE network. While I was running a few speed tests, however, I started getting errors saying that the connection was too fast for the speed test I was using. After a recheck, I discovered that I was, indeed, connected to Cingular’s new 3G network!

I’m pleased to report that I’ve seen realtime throughput consistently in the 650-750 kbt/s range. Very encouraging, and not bad at all for things like email, web surfing, and blog updating. Very cool, indeed.

I’m on my way to the booming metropolis of North East, Maryland for the Sandy Cove Christian Writers Conference. I’ll have more on that later, as they are about to start boarding my flight to PHL, and the battle for overhead bin space is already underway. I have, however, made an addition to the Blogroll, adding the website/blog of Jim Watkins, the director of the conference. No, I didn’t add this just to kiss up to the conference director — it’s actually a great site with some funny and insightful stuff. Check it out!

More on the conference when I get there.

It’s not that I haven’t been writing. I’ve been writing my little fingers to the bone. I’ve also been really busy with the radio job that supports my writing addiction. Work, work, work!

Well, okay… there has been a little play, too. I’ve got a nifty new tool under my fingertips, a brand new notebook computer. We had been talking about upgrading for a while, and after one of my laptops was stolen a while back, that pushed an upgrade closer to the top of the list. Since I’m actually attempting to (and seriously in danger of) making a few bucks with my writing work, a laptop devoted almost exclusively to that business becomes a legitimate business expense, further helping to justify the cost. It’s a tool, not a toy… it’s a tool, not a toy… it’s a tool, not a toy…

Being the geeky tech-boy that I am, and having spent many years supporting computers around radio stations, I would never be satisfied with any of those consumer-oriented cheapie laptops at the local “big box” chain stores. I did look at a few, but none of them was the right fit. Your mileage may vary, so if you bought one of those $499 laptops from a “big box” chain store and you’re happy with it, I’m happy for you. Just don’t call me when it breaks and you have to send it off for a month to have it repaired under warranty.

My close techie friends might find this surprising, but I actually considered buying a Mac. I looked at the new MacBook and MacBook Pro machines based on Intel processors, and was not unimpressed. Mac’s OSX Operating system does have some strong upsides, largely because it’s based on good old fashioned BSD Unix. In fact, if Apple offered OSX with drivers that would work on my new machine, I’d buy a copy and install it as a dual-boot OS just for the sake of experimentation. Apple, however, doesn’t believe in playing well with others when it comes to hardware. If you want to run OSX, you have to buy their overpriced machine to run it. When I was shopping around, I found that they just weren’t competitive enough, particularly when looking at warranties and support. Apple offers longer-term support warranties, but doesn’t offer the one coverage that ought to be mandatory for a notebook/laptop that will be in motion: Accidental Damage coverage. You can get it through third parties, but it’s pricey and I never did find the level of coverage and support I demand.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned through my years of radio engineering and working with computers, it’s that how well a computer is supported after the sale is just as important—or in some cases even more important—than the hardware, software, bells, and whistles. That’s why I decided to buy another Dell. I’ve owned three other Dell laptops, and I’ve never had anything but good experience with Dell’s support. About four years ago I bought a used Dell Latitude C600 on eBay from Dell Financial Services. It was an off-lease machine that had been refurbished and still had several months of CompleteCare (includes accidental damage) warranty remaining. A week after I bought it, it began misbehaving, and after some troubleshooting I felt there was a problem with the motherboard. I placed a call to Dell’s support folks, we discussed what was going on, and bright and early the next morning there was a tech at my office with a new motherboard in hand, and 30 minutes later the machine was good as new. I bought my Inspiron 5150 a couple of years ago (with s 3 year CompleteCare Warranty), and on my third day of ownership I was listening to something with my Koss Pro/4AA headphones, which have a ¼” plug. I adapted down to the 1/8” plug with a straight, solid adapter. The combined length of the adapter and the plug from the headphones was around four inches, sticking out from the side of the new machine. When I accidentally dropped something on that connector combo, I heard a distinct “snap” and I lost both headphones and speakers. I had snapped the headphone jack off of the motherboard. Again, one call and the next day I had a new motherboard installed by a friendly tech, no cost, no questions asked.

Try to get that level of service/support from your local “big box” chain store!

So, my previous laptop, the Inspiron 5150, is now Sharon’s computer, the Latitude C600 she was using has been retired to less stressful service, and I bought a new Dell Latitude D820. I held off on the purchase until September 6, the first day that Dell was offering the newest generation mobile processor (Intel’s Core 2 Duo, AKA “Merom”) in the Latitude line. I got a T7200 processor, a dual-core 2Ghz with 4MB internal cache that’s ready to run a 64-bit OS. It’s pretty well loaded, with 2 GB RAM, 100GB 7200RPM Hard Drive, WSXGA+ display, the 512MB Nvidia video card, and even an HSDPA mobile broadband card that will work with Cingular’s new 3G Network. If you’re not a techie, just smile and say “that’s nice” and move on.

This thing screams. At first, it didn’t seem all that much faster than my Inspiron 5150 (P4 3.06 G proc with 1GB RAM), which is no slouch. It was when I started actually using the thing heavily that I began to see the speed advantages of the Dual Core processor. Very impressive, indeed. It’s a beautiful thing.

Yet, after I got it out of the box, installed all my software, and moved all those gigabytes of files to the new machine, I found myself sitting here saying “now what?” It has a display, and a keyboard, and all the stuff you expect a computer to have. It’s fast… oy, it’s fast. And it’s pretty. The display is lovely. But, it’s just a computer—a tool that I can use to write words, write music, create impressive graphics, read and write email, pay my bills, and all of the other things we do with our computers. I didn’t feel giddy like a child on Christmas morning, which is what I expected to feel. It really is a tool, not a toy.

I’m reminded of a story I heard once about a humble, philanthropic zillionaire from a family of almost insane wealth. Someone asked him how he could grow up in an environment with so much wealth and not become materialistic. His answer was profound: “Mother taught us that everything we had was either a tool or an idol, and mother would not tolerate idolatry in our home.”

Lord, I don’t want to be an idolater. Please keep me balanced and help me keep my eye on the prize. Thank you for my new computer. Please help me use it as a tool, not as a toy.