AT&T 3G MicroCell Setup: An Exercise in Persistence July 18, 2010
Posted by jimintriglia in AT&T, Home Networking, iPhone.10 comments
When I received my letter in the mail recently, advising me that I qualified for a free AT&T 3G MicroCell, I knew that getting the device up-and-running on my home network would be an exercise in patience and persistence.
I had been hearing about the difficulty in getting the device setup and working, ever since AT&T announced the product would be available for $150 retail. A Google search showed numerous people having all manner of issues in their attempt to make use of the device.
As my iPhone is basically useless when I am at home here in Conifer, I decided it was worth investing some time toward getting my MicroCell up-and-running on my home network. If I was successful, I would then have the full use of my iPhone (voice and data applications) when I am at home. Neat.
To cut to the chase, here’s what I needed to do to get my MicroCell working with my iPhone via my home network:
1. Locate the MicroCell within three feet of a window. This is NOT an option! The MicroCell has a built-in GPS, which must acquire a position “lock” before the device will function. Both the MicroCell Quick-Start Guide and Users Manual fail to mentioon that this is a requirement for the product to work at all.
2. Once you have the MicroCell located by a window and connected to an open port on your router, you will need to power-down your router. This too, is not an option. Once your router is powered-down, power it up and then power-up the MicroCell. You will then have to wait for 90 minutes or more, for the MicroCell to download software and configure itself. If the MicroCell completes this step successfully, you will get an email from AT&T confirming successful MicroCell Activation.
3. If you are employing MAC addressing filtering as a security precaution on your router, be sure to add the MAC address of the MicroCell to the approved device list for your Router. Fail to do this and the MicroCell will convey “all green and good” status indicators, and you will remain “dead in the water” respective of your MicroCell connection to the ‘Net.
4. Once the MicroCell is working with your home network and shows a good GPS lock, Internet connection and solid “Green Bar” indicator, it’s time to get your iPhone communicating with the MicroCell. use the iPhone’s Setup application to temporarily disable Bluetooth and Wifi capability. Ensure that the 3G Networking capability is enabled, as that’s how the iPhone connects to the MicroCell. When all of this is done, power-down the iPhone. After a few seconds, power your iPhone up. If you are in luck, your iPhone will display the “AT&T M-Cell” indicator in the top-left of the display (next to the signal strength indicator). Make a test phone call and access a data application to confirm that all is working between your MicroCell, your iPhone, your home network and AT&T.
Special thanks to Marcus, the AT&T Customer Support Representative, that took me the last mile (Step 4) and got my iPhone running with the MicroCell.
I now can use my iPhone and all of the applications when I am at home– more value for my dollar.
Camtasia vs Screenflow: Battle of the Screencasting Platforms June 11, 2010
Posted by jimintriglia in Apple Mac, Communications, Education, Screencasting.4 comments
After sorting through a dozen or so screencasting applications for the Apple Mac platform, I’ve settled on Camtasia for the Mac, with Telestream’s ScreenFlow running a close second. My principal goal was to find a screencasting application that would enable me to create scripted screencasts, in addition to “quick and dirty” narratives that I could embed in various media.
After working with ScreenFlow for several days, I found myself growing frustrated with the lack of basic tools, such as being able to add simple pointer graphics to my screencast during post-production editing. I also had difficulty editing audio tracks, and resigned myself to the fact that I would likely have to record audio separately via applications like Apple’s GarageBand or Audacity if I decided to go with ScreenFlow as my screencasting tool.
Camtasia for the Mac seemed to be a more polished application as compared to ScreenFlow, which I would expect, as the Microsoft Windows versions of Camtasia products have been in development for years. ScreenFlow appears to have a better community of users willing to help each other, even to the point of developing free add-on tools and providing feedback on community members screencasts. Camtasia for the Mac crashed several times on my MacBook Pro, something I do not expect Mac applications to do. On the positive side, my recent work was saved, so the only time I lost was in rebooting the application.
There is much discussion on the web and on Youtube as to whether Camtasia for the Mac or Screenflow is best for professional and business screencasting. Here’s one review of Camtasia from a user that uses Screenflow:
Don McAllister‘s Screencastonline is a great example of the power of educational screencasts. I’ve used several of Don’s screencasts to preview applications that are of interest to me. Last year, I previewed Don’s screencast of OmniFocus, and decided to purchase the software for my Mac and iPhone. Not only did his screencast review of OmniFocus provide enough information for me to make a purchase decision, I learned enough from the screencast to begin using the application as soon as I downloaded and installed the package. (Don uses ScreenFlow for capture and assembly edit; Final Cut Studio for final production editing.)
I’ve still got 25 days left in my Camtasia free trial evaluation, which I’ll put to good use in testing other applications that I have in mind. Screenflow offers a free trial download, but I the heavy watermarking gets in the way of evaluating finished screencasts. Telestream should consider eliminating the watermarking to better compete with Techsmith’s Camtasia, or at least make the watermark more transparent, so prospective customers can better evaluate the video capture quality.
Next month, I’ll share with you whether I decided to purchase Camtasia for the Mac or Screenflow. Please post your experience with either application, especially if you have evaluated both products.
Screencasting: A Power Tool in the Communicator’s Toolbox May 30, 2010
Posted by jimintriglia in Communications, Education, Screencasting.add a comment
Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.
Several weeks ago, I was sharing and idea with a colleague about a new web application I was developing. When we got to talking about communicating the benefits of this new application to the audience that would benefit from its use, she asked me if I could put something together that would help people get their “heads around” the idea.
God no, not another slide show presentation… or an informative article, brochure or other well-worn media tool that holds attention for 10-15 seconds before getting cast aside or clicked-through.
Unwilling to down the same old worn path again, I decided to invest a few weeks and research what some innovative people were doing to improve on communicating complex ideas. I was not disappointed with what I found.
I’ve been aware of Screencasting for quite some time now. I recognized the benefits of screencasting from the perspective of teaching, marketing and communicating complex ideas and concepts. I never engaged the approach because of the rather large investment of time, money and energy required to produce a good screencast. I much rather invest that time in developing web applications.
What I discovered as I read blog after blog on screencasting, is that the applications and technology have significantly reduced the time, money and energy involved in producing a screencast that folks will actual value. Over the next few weeks, I share the great resources that I have discovered along my screencasting journey.
If you too can’t bear to create yet another plain-Jane blog post, brochure, quick-start guide or the like, stay tuned. I’ll be posting some of the gems that I found in the last three weeks surfing the net.
April 24, 2009
Posted by jimintriglia in Communications, Internet/Web Services, News & FYI, Personal Computing, Personal Interest.add a comment
Recently, I was motivated to setup an account and establish a profile on Facebook. While I have maintained a presence on LinkedIn for several years, not everybody that I need to stay in touch with has a LinkedIn account. Further, LinkedIn is geared for professionals and executives, while Facebook is targeted at the general population who basically want to engage in recreational social networking.
A high school buddy contacted me several weeks ago. After catching-up a bit, our dicussion turned to what other members of our circle of friends were up to of late. One of our mutual friends has done extremely well career-wise, and is currently the CEO of a Fortune 1000 ranked company. Much to my surprise, this friend did not have a LinkedIn profile, but did have a Facebook page.
Trying to contact my friend through his executive assistant would prove difficult and time-consuming. (How many people try to contact CEOs of major corporation using the guise of being a “good friend”?). His personal contact information was unlisted, not unusual for executives. So, I created a Facebook account and contacted my friend through a Facebook “friends” invitation. A few days later were were in touch and catching-up on the events of the past years.
An unexpected surprise was finding that my friend had stayed in touch with other high school friends who I had no luck in finding current contact information. Additionally, through my Facebook page, I’ve received invitations from other friends. I’ve also received invitations from people around the world that share common passions and interests.
As a person who values his personal and professional network of friends and associates, Facebook appears to be a valuable web service for staying in touch with friends and meeting people form all walks of life. While I can visualize people rolling their eyes wondering what took me so long to discover this, I would remind them that many similar services promise the same benefits as Facebook and fail to deliver anything other that an increase in junk mail.
I would also argue that some popular web services, such as Twitter, can be extremely addictive and serve to disrupt people from focusing on their own life pursuits. (For more on this perspective, have a listen to Mark Horstman on Twitter.) I have seen some unique applications of “Twittering”, so I may revisit Twitter at some future date. In the mean time, there are many other great web services rolling out that hold greater promise of delivering benefits that are of interest to me and those that I count in my circle of friends and colleagues.
Writing Effective Recommendations for LinkedIn Colleagues December 20, 2008
Posted by jimintriglia in Career Development, Communications.Tags: Career Development, Jibberjobber, LinkedIn
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One of the best ways of recognize a business colleague for their excellent work is to submit a LinkedIn recommendation.
Writing a good recommendation is not a difficult task, providing you some give thought about what you want the recommendation to accomplish for your colleague.
Jason Alba, founder of JibberJobber.com, provided excellent advice on the topic of writing a LinkedIn recommendation. Consider his advice before you write that next recommendation for a friend or associate– it can make a real difference in the quality and effectiveness of the recommendation.
