Windows Live Photo Gallery

March 25, 2008 By
seaworld-shel-and-scoble-007-stitch.jpg

Just a quick note on the Photo-stitching that is included in Windows Live Photo Gallery.

It is drop-dead-easy to use.  And it can produce some pretty interesting results.  Like these pictures combined from the photos I took when FastComapny.TV was filming at Sea World, San Antonio.

Click to enlarge.

 

Here Shel is talking to Scoble, talking to himself, AND merged in with Fran from Sea World.  This merged five photos. I know it looks like four – trust me, it was five :)

Seaworld - Shel and Scoble 007 Stitch

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a stitch up of a couple photos showing the lake at Sea World (and another coaster in the background)

Seaworld - Shel and Scoble 029 Stitch

 

 

 

 

 

You can get Windows Live Photo Gallery here.  It is free.

Filed Under: Fun, Reviews, San Antonio, Scoble, Useful Tools

MOSSO, Take Two (already!)

March 14, 2008 By

OK. If you haven’t read my previous post where MOSSO blew my mind, go read it now.  Then be prepared to be REALLY blown away.

I said I could create one domain that runs Windows and another that runs Linux – all on the same account.

I said I could run Windows with MS SQL or with MySQL.

I said I could run Windows and Ruby on Rails, or Linux and Ruby on Rails.

All of that amazed me.

But I had NO IDEA that I could run, ON ONE DOMAIN .Net, PHP, MySQL, and MS SQL.  I didn’t realize that my .Net app could talk to my MySQL database AND my MS SQL database.  Or that my PHP app could talk to my MySQL and MS SQL databases.

That my Linux apps could talk to my Windows databases.  And vise-versa.

All on the same domain.

All on the same domain!

I didn’t realize how many choices I had, and how many ways I could serve my clients all on one box – regardless of the application, database, Operating System, etc.

I honestly need to sit and think for a while because I have no clue how all of this can be true.  Just thinking about the back end that serves this is making my head spin a little bit.  The front-end – the part *I* work with is just DROP DEAD EASY.

I’ve got a feeling the back end is a bit more complex :)

The back end is where the BMVS (Black Magic Voodoo Shit) happens.  And it is some serious magic.

In my F.A.Q. page I say DesqView X is my favorite software ever.  Because it was magic.

But I think I need to update my F.A.Q. now.  MOSSO is making my head spin.

It honestly seems impossible.

And if I would not have been lucky enough to just talk to one of the inventors of the technology I probably still wouldn’t believe it.

My brain must rest.

Amazing.  After being at Rackspace all day yesterday, and visiting their new site the day before, I was already wondering if I shouldn’t just go work for them.  Rackspace is an amazing company.

But now I know.  If I leave consulting, I am applying at MOSSO.

It is that freaking cool.

Filed Under: Mosso, Reviews Tagged With: , ,

MOSSO – first take

March 14, 2008 By

mosso_logo I opened an account on MOSSO today. It was VERY easy. Name, address, email, password, credit card number.

Bam! Everything just happens. I didn’t have to pick out a server configuration, a data plan, a firewall, anti-virus – none of that crap that is just a pain in the ass to keep up with.

In fact – I didn’t even have to decide if I wanted to run Windows or Linux — because I can make that decision for each domain I add. I am NOT bullshitting you! I “bought” one server. I created two domains. One runs LAMP and the other runs Windows Server. Really!

I can create another domain and run Ruby on Rails. I can run a domain on Windows with MySQL or MSSQL. I can run Linux with Ruby on Rails, or Linux with PHP/MySQL, etc. One box. One price. One login. One thing to manage. Very sweet!

All on the same “cloud” in the sky. All without worrying about updating anything, managing firewall ports, updating Anti-virus, etc.

Truly amazing technology! This is cloud computing without all of the pitfalls you get with other cloud computing platforms (you have to be a programmer, lightning can strike you at this altitude on some platforms, and the air gets thin up in the clouds).

But MOSSO protects you from ALL OF THAT. Really.

So far, so good. I still have some stuff to learn – and there are two things I don’t like – they aren’t big things, but sometimes it is the little things that bother me.

  • First, I can’t pick the day of the month my credit card gets billed. I wish I could.
  • Second, it costs $10.00 to transfer an existing domain. Sure, that gives you an extra year on your domain, but I think the first domain transfer should be free – as an incentive for me to move to MOSSO.

Like I said – these aren’t big issues, but they are areas I think MOSSO could improve on.

I won’t really put anything live on the new server until WordPress 2.5 comes out next week. No reason to do an install just to upgrade.

But the back end of this system must be VERY freaking cool. I must talk to them more about it!

And I’ll let the rest of you know more about MOSSO as I learn more.

So far I am more than impressed. I almost cannot believe they are doing what they are doing. It seems illogical!

And what would you expect to pay for this kind of power and flexibility? $1000/month? $500/month? No! It is only $100 a month to run a wide variety of sites on one platform that grows and expands dynamically – as you need it.

Really. Fucking. Amazing.

Filed Under: Mosso, Reviews Tagged With: , ,

When upgrades go bad

March 14, 2008 By

My host (1and1.com) performed an “upgrade” to my server overnight.

broken-computer I woke up to a dead web server.  I could FTP in, but a dozen domain names were down.  For HOURS.

And what did this upgrade give me?  What was my “benefit”?

 

NONE of these things interests me whatsoever.  So there was no benefit to me to have this “upgrade” that killed my web sites for hours.

In related news, after meeting with the Rackspace team this week, I am trying out MOSSO.  From the MOSSO site:

The Hosting Cloud is advanced technology made extremely simple. The applications you load on the Hosting Cloud immediately and automatically inherit clustered processing, load-balancing, and redundant storage. The moment you upload an application, it’s set to scale across an entire fleet of computers. There are no devices to think about or servers to configure. You don’t install an operating system, you simply select one. You don’t administer the underlying systems, you develop your own unique applications.

In fact, we built the Hosting Cloud to meet a unique set of goals designed to make the process of web development faster and easier:

It had to be “device-less.” There are no servers, VPSes, operating systems, or devices for you to setup and configure. Simply upload your application, and you’re off and going.

It had to scale automatically. It’s hard to predict when you’ll need to scale quickly, and really, you shouldn’t have to. Because clustering is built right in, the processing powering your application simply surges when your traffic surges.

It had to be flexible. Who are we to pick the technologies you use? We chose a far better approach: to build best-practice environments for lots of technology, so you can choose the framework that best fits your needs.

It had to be easy. You can launch a new application with almost no setup. Just use our online software to provide the domain where your site or application will live and then pick the technologies you want to power it. The entire process takes about five minutes. We even do some DNS magic so you can get started before your domain name fully migrates.

It could never be obsolete. Most importantly, the Hosting Cloud is a dynamic environment where you are automatically provided upgrades, patches, and even new technologies without any effort or migration on your part. That’s a sure cure for server obsolesce and a welcome change if your current provider charges you month after month for an aging setup they racked a year ago.

MOSSO costs a bit more than my current server – about twice, actually.  But for the scalability, ease of setup and management, and the Fanatical Rackspace Support (REAL PEOPLE ANSWER THE PHONE!) I think it may just prove to be worth the added cost.

I won’t be moving my main domains to MOSSO to start with.  As I learn about the platform more, and build up a sense of security with it, I may move everything to MOSSO. 

I certainly would have paid the extra $50 today to not be down for 6+ hours!

Filed Under: Customers, Reviews Tagged With: , , ,

According to Scoble, San Antonio 3G "Kicks Ass"

March 13, 2008 By

Three times over the last two days Scobleizer made a statement that 3G cellular data network here in San Antonio was the best he had seen, or simply that it “Kicks Ass”.

ATT is headquartered here, and Robert uses ATT – so I would hope the network was above par.  Plus we have a lot of large companies here and a huge Military presence – all are heavy consumers of high-speed wireless data.

Just another reason San Antonio is a great place to build a business.  The Scoble videos coming up over the next few weeks will give you many more reasons.

Here’s one of my favorite – The Flying Saucer (and yes, I know other cities have a Flying Saucer – but not as nice as mine!).  From last night – a Scoble Qik video – live streaming videos of a gaggle of geeks guzzling grog.  And yes, that’s me on the still frame below.  I am afraid to say.

 

And yes – this was March 12, 2008.  And yes, nobody has a jacket on, and there is no snow.  Just the way I like it!

Filed Under: Reviews, San Antonio, Scoble
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